THE implementation of some of the relief measures announced in the prime minister’s agri package has been stayed until December by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

One of the affected measures is the Rs500 subsidy for every bag of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser. The subsidy will be unavailable to farmers in Sindh when the wheat-sowing season begins next month.

Both big and small farmers use DAP fertiliser as an essential but costly farm input. Its current market price is Rs3,700. Wheat growers — who are not aware of the ECP’s directive — are pressing dealers to sell them the fertiliser at the subsidised rate of Rs3,200 and are reluctant to buy it at the current price.

According to a fertiliser company’s executive, Nadeem Akhter, dealers are also avoiding purchasing the input at the current rate, fearing that if the subsidy is announced right away, they would not be able to adjust the difference as they bought the commodity from companies at the old rates.

He disclosed that many farmers did not use DAP in the autumn sowing season of sugarcane (at the beginning of October), and that they have been approaching fertiliser firms to know when the subsidised DAP would actually be available to them.

‘According to a rough estimate, one bag of DAP increases grain productivity by 10-12 maunds per acre’

The wheat crop in Sindh is grown in the command area of all three barrages. According to a tentative utilisation plan that the Indus River System Authority shared with the irrigation department, Sindh’s barrages will have a deficit of over 13 million acre feet (MAF) in water flows.

For instance, against their allocated share of 45.1MAF under the Water Apportion­ment Accord 1991, they are likely to get 32.5MAF in the first 10 days of November.

But an irrigation official insists that Sindh has been better off with water availability in the just-concluded kharif season and that its soil still retains moisture. Hopefully, the deficit in the water flows will not affect the sowing of grain that much, at least in the first 10 days of November when farmers go for early rabi-sowing in the lower Sindh region.

However, if there are no rains, the water shortage might increase in late rabi season when the crops need the last cycle of water before they are harvested.

Last year, Sindh exceeded the wheat-sowing target by 6,000ha, but per-hectare productivity was down 8.8pc. Agriculture officials claim that this was due to delayed cane crushing. The farmers also used less DAP fertiliser due to its high price.

An official of the Wheat Research Institute Sakrand, Karim Leghari, says the belated use of DAP compromises productivity.

“According to a rough estimate, one bag of DAP increases grain productivity by 10-12 maunds per acre,” says Nadeem Shah, a landowner from Thatta and Matiari districts.

Sindh’s average per-hectare wheat yields were impressive from 2010-11 to 2012-13, according to figures of the Ministry of Food Security and Research. The province’s per-hectare yield had amounted to 3,747kg against Punjab’s 2,846kg in 2010-11; 3,585kg against Punjab’s 2,736kg in 2011-12; and 3,400kg against Punjab’s 2,855kg in 2012-13.

However, owing to water shortage, the per-hectare productivity had dropped to 3,318kg in the 2014-15 season, according to the Sindh government’s own estimates.

Published in Dawn, Business & Finance weekly, October 12th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play