The price of daiammoniumphosphate (DAP), an essential crop nutrient, has jumped up by Rs 25 per 50 kg bag due to its acute shortage in the wake of hoarding by market movers, sources told Business Recorder on Tuesday.
DAP utilisation in the country is increasing gradually, which has had a negative impact on its prices, which have gone up during past one-and-a-half weeks. On Tuesday, DAP price had had gone up to Rs 960 per bag from Rs 935 10 days back, depicting an increase of Rs 25 per, sources said.
They said that despite government''s announcement that DAP would be available at Rs 860 to Rs 870 per bag, it had touched the new peak of Rs 960. "The price has been increased by dealers and market movers. They have increased it by Rs 25 per bag and are selling it at Rs 950-960 per bag", said Chairman, Agri Forum Pakistan, Muhammad Ibraheem Mughal, while taking on telephone from Lahore.
He said that DAP price has been increased across the country, particularly in Lahore, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Rahim Yar Khan, Rajanpur, Multan, Muzafargarh, Bahawalpur, and many areas of Sindh where they are selling it at Rs 950-960 per bag.
Criticising the fertiliser companies'' role, he said that fertiliser companies had reduced urea price by Rs 7 per bag a day earlier, when the demand of urea had been fulfilled, and demand for DAP was on the rise. He said that during last few months the demand for DAP had been increasing constantly due to government efforts, but now fertiliser companies were taking advantage of it.
He said that as sugarcane, cotton and rice would be sown shortly, the demand for DAP would increase. If the government did not take action against the movers and dealers, its price might move up to Rs 1,000 per bag. He said that in some areas, dealers and movers were not providing DAP to farmers as per their requirement.
He said that DAP demand in the country was increasing gradually and during January, its offtake had increased by 77 percent to 55,000 tons from 31,000 tons of the same period of the last year. He said that this was a very serious issue, whereas the government had paid no attention to farmers reservations to take steps for growers'' protection.