Government to help in increasing production of SSP

ATM News Network: Farmers' confidence in SSP (Single Super Phosphate) needs to be regained and the Central Government is ready to help the industry in all possible ways, assured Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Fertilizers and Chemicals Minister.

He was speaking at the workshop organised by the Fertilizer Association of India (FAI) in New Delhi. The use of SSP fertilizer by farmers has decreased and the SSP fertilizer manufacturing plants are running below capacity. Opportunities to export SSP to neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka are also being explored by the SSP industry. 80 delegates representing 50 SSP companies in the country attended the workshop.

In the last few years, the quality of single super phosphate has deteriorated and the credit of the fertilizer has declined. Due to this, the faith of the farmers has been lost. Farmers have switched to DAP fertilizer and are not ready to use SSP. Sales of SSP fertilizer have declined from 42.66 lakh tonnes to 38.70 lakh tonnes till November 2022. Meanwhile, DAP fertilizer sales increased by 18.53% to 83.53 lakh tonnes from 70.47 lakh tonnes.

Dr Mandavia said the SSP industry has to ensure the supply of good quality products as per FCO specifications. All SSP manufacturing companies are required to set up a state-of-the-art laboratory (NABL accredited) on the premises to ensure quality. All checks should be done to make sure that there will be no mistakes in the final product. Additionally, companies should work on better marketing and demand generation of the product.

Dr Mandaviya further said, Dr Mandaviya also suggested setting up one SSP Park each at Visakhapatnam (East Coast) and Dahej (West Coast) to increase production of SSP for local as well as export. For this, the Fertilizer Department should fully cooperate with them. This will help in the procurement of raw materials at competitive prices. Better monitoring and control in one place will help.

Why SSP?

About 1 ton of DAP fertilizer provides 180 kg 'N' and 460 kg 'P' to the soil. This deprives the soil of sulphur, magnesium oxide and calcium. However, the application of 0.4 tonnes of urea and 2.87 tonnes of SSP fertilizer provides 184 kg 'N', 460 kg 'P' and 316 kg of required sulphur. This combination also provides 604 kg of calcium. Blending urea and SSP will be 20% cheaper and will reduce the burden of subsidy on the government.s