The Hindu Business Line : SSP units may get higher concession

Differential sops
SSP manufacturers are entitled to a base concession rate of Rs 975 per tonne; it ranges from Rs 6,173 to Rs 6,355 per tonne for DAP.
After factoring in the concession, the maximum retail price of DAP is Rs 9,350 per tonne; it is around Rs 3,400 per tonne for SSP.

New Delhi , Oct. 7

The Centre is considering raising the concession rate for single super phosphate (SSP) manufacturers in keeping with an Agriculture Ministry Task Force recommendation to treat sulphur on par with nitrogen, phosphorous and potash for both price fixation and subsidy eligibility.

SSP production has fallen from almost 40 lakh tonnes (lt) in 1997-98 to 26.95 lt in 2005-06. Part of this has to do with its poor-cousin status vis-à-vis di-ammonium phosphate (DAP). SSP contains only 16 per cent phosphorous as against 46 per cent in the case of DAP. At the same time, unlike DAP, SSP has 12 per cent sulphur, which does not, however, get accounted for in the present subsidy regime.

SSP manufacturers are currently entitled to a base concession rate (subsidy reimbursement) of just Rs 975 per tonne, while it ranges from Rs 6,173 to Rs 6,355 per tonne for DAP. But even after factoring in the concession, the maximum retail price of DAP is Rs 9,350 per tonne, while it is around Rs 3,400 per tonne for SSP.

"Farmers pay higher for DAP not only because it contains almost three times the phosphorous, but also for its 18 per cent nitrogen content. The 12 per cent sulphur in SSP is not considered either by the Government or the farmer, who view it purely as a phosphatic fertiliser," said Mr Jahar Kanungo, Advisor, Dharamsi Morarji Chemical Co Ltd.

As a result, while SSP used to meet 100 per cent of the country's phosphorous requirement till the fifties, this proportion has steadily fallen to 44.8 per cent in 1970-71 and 10.3 per cent in 2005-06. SSP has lost out to DAP, just as ammonium sulphate (AS) was marginalised by urea due to its lower nitrogen content: 21 per cent versus 46 per cent.

All this has hit SSP producers — including Dharamsi Morarji, Coromandel Fertilisers, Jubilant Organosys, Tata Chemicals — hard and many have had to shut down plants.

But this could change in the future.

"It is a worldwide phenomenon. As long as the nitrogen and phosphorous needs were coming from AS and SSP, there was no major sulphur deficiency as these two fertilisers had sulphur content of 24 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively. Their replacement with newer high-analysis materials (urea and DAP) meant that the sulphur removed from the soils through intensive farming was not getting replenished," noted Mr Robert J. Morris, President of The Sulphur Institute, Washington.

In India, the number of sulphur-deficient districts has risen from 88 in 1980 to 250 now, with the annual unmet requirement put at 9.6 lt.

"If the soil has no sulphur, the plant does not respond to additional nitrogen and phosphorous applications. Our research shows that the positive interaction effect of sulphur with the major nutrients can enhance crop yields by a minimum 10 per cent", Mr Morris added.

The SSP industry is drawing comfort from the recommendation of the Task Force on Balanced Use of Fertilisers to recognise sulphur as a nutrient on par with nitrogen, phosphorous and potash.

"The present concession rate for SSP does not even provide for its P content on a proportionate basis. If the Task Force's suggestion is accepted, we will be paid for both phosphorous as well as sulphur," Mr Kanungo said.

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