Haryana farmers are facing a crisis, and it’s not related to MSP

Haryana is facing a serious shortage of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), an essential fertiliser, days ahead of the Rabi sowing season. Some districts are seeing long queues of farmers at fertiliser distribution centres, with police being deployed to control any untoward situation. Congress leader Kumari Selja has alleged that police lathicharged a group of farmers.
Refuting the claims of opposition leaders, however, a Haryana government spokesperson said there was sufficient stock of urea and DAP in the state.
Di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) is a fertiliser that is used for the cultivation of several crops, including wheat and mustard.
After urea, DAP is the most widely used fertiliser in India. The annual demand for DAP in India is about 100 lakh tonnes.
Experts say that Haryana has seen a similar DAP crisis earlier too, and as recently as in 2021. That was also during the wheat and mustard sowing season in October. Such was the situation that DAP was sold in a police station in Mewat region, just 50-60 km from the national capital Delhi.
Click here to read the story in Hindi on Kisan Tak, India Today Digital’s sister platform.

Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) is a preferred fertiliser in India because it contains both Nitrogen and Phosphorus, which are primary macro-nutrients essential for crops. (Image: IFFCO)

Opposition parties have attacked the BJP government for the current fertiliser crisis in Haryana.
“In many places, the situation has become dire and farmers have been forced to hold protests and demonstrations,” Kumari Selja, the Congress MP from Sirsa, was quoted as saying by PTI.
On October 26, Selja wrote on X about an incident of lathicharge by the police on the farmers who had come to get DAP fertiliser at Uchana Mandi that reflects the oppressive policies of the BJP government. Such inhumane treatment of farmers in Haryana is not acceptable.
For October, Haryana was allocated 1,15,150 metric tonnes of DAP, while only 68,929 metric tonnes reached the state by October 29. This is according to Haryana government data.
“The problem has become serious as the allocated quantity of DAP hasn’t reached Haryana,” says Om Prakash, an agriculture expert with Kisan Tak, India Today Digital’s sister media platform.
Om Prakash says this isn’t the first time that DAP has been distributed under police security.
“Haryana has seen a much worse situation when it comes to DAP shortages. Even in the Mewat region, the fertiliser was sold under heavy police presence or in police stations,” says Om Prakash.
This is despite the fact that there are BJP-led governments in both Haryana and at the Centre.
There’s a huge disparity in the allotted quantity of fertilisers and what actually reaches the ground, says Om Prakash, explaining why Haryana, like several other states like Punjab and Madhya Pradesh, faces regular shortages in critical fertilisers.
Punjab too, it seems, is staring at a DAP shortage.
A post by the Punjab Chief Minister’s official handle on October 27 said the situation of DAP was understandable “as 70% of DAP is imported from other countries. So, due to the Ukraine war and other international reasons, there is a shortage of DAP”.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann met Union Chemical and Fertiliser Minister JP Nadda and requested him to prioritise DAP for Punjab as the state contributed around 50% of the supply of wheat to the national food pool.
Mann asked Nadda to ensure a complete supply of DAP fertiliser allotted to Punjab by November 15.
The meeting came even as Haryana grappled with an acute shortage of DAP.
“A few days ago, several farmers stood in long queues outside the Tosham police station in Bhiwani district as police handled the process and gave slips to farmers that they could exchange for DAP bags,” Dayanand Poonia, a farmer activist based in Haryana’s Loharu, told PTI.
“Farmers in the state are wandering from place to place in search of DAP fertiliser,” Deepender Hooda, the Congress MP from Rohtak, Haryana, said on October 27.
Haryana needs to ensure an adequate supply of DAP soon, because, according to Poonia, the demand will spike once sowing of wheat starts in November.