THE All India Kisan Sabha, in a statement issued on April 8, has condemned the decision of the Narendra Modi led BJP government to allow fertilizer companies to hugely hike the prices of chemical fertilizers. The price of DAP (18-46-00) which was Rs 24,000/MT in 2020 has now been increased to Rs 38,000/MT or an increase of Rs 14,000/MT. Farmers who were paying Rs 1200 for a 50 kg bag have to now pay Rs 1900. The prices of NPK complex fertilizers have also seen an exorbitant rise. Prices of NPK-I (10-26-26) increased from Rs 23,500/MT to Rs 35,500/MT, an increase of Rs 12,000/MT and price of NPK-II (12-32-16) increased from Rs 23,700/MT to Rs 36,000/MT, an increase of Rs 12,300/MT.  The prices of NP (20-20-0-13) also have increased from Rs 18,500/MT to Rs 27,000/MT. AIKS demands immediate rollback of the increase in prices.

This information given out by the IFFCO ironically comes only two months after making the claim that prices will not be increased as they aimed to reduce agricultural input cost to farmers. This has happened as the government has promoted deregulation in the fertilizer sector and companies are fixing farm gate prices without even transferring the benefit of fertilizer subsidies to farmers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government rather than helping to double farmers’ incomes are only doubling their woes.

This exorbitant hike comes at a time when the farmers have already suffered huge losses due to the unplanned lockdown and already increasing cost of production due to increasing prices of diesel and other agricultural inputs. This also comes at a time when internationally crude oil prices are low.

Product                                                                              MRP in 2020                       New Prices (2021)
                                                                               Rs/MT         Rs/Bag (50 Kg)           Rs/MT            Rs/Bag (50 Kg)
DAP                                                                        24,000               1200                     38,000                    1900
NPK-I(10-26-26)                                                     23,500               1175                     35,500                    1775
NPK-II (12-32-16)                                                   23,700               1185                     36,000                   1800
NP (20-20-0-13)                                                     18,500                 925                      27,000                  1350

AIKS calls upon all units to rise up in protest against this unjust hike in fertilizer prices.