The government has set up a task force under the aegis of Fertiliser Association of India to find out ways to improve the quality of Single Super Phosphate (SSP) fertiliser and promote its use as an alternative to Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP), Parliament was informed on Friday. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Bhagwant Khuba said the consumption of SSP has increased in the country from 44.88 lakh tonnes in 2020-21 to 56.81 lakh tonnes in 2021-22.
The government is promoting the combination of SSP and urea in the ratio of 3:1 in order to encourage its use among farmers. To further increase the consumption of SSP in the country, the Minister said the government has taken several steps.
A task force has been formed under the aegis of the FAI which will find out the ways and means to improve the quality of SSP fertilisers, image of the industry and to examine the various issues faced by the industry, he said. Freight subsidy was extended to SSP for the kharif and rabi season of 2022 on pilot basis to promote its usage.
Guidelines on SSP have been rationalised and the minimum capacity of new units has been fixed at one lakh tonnes per annum to increase the scale of production. According to the Minister, the domestic production of SSP has increased to 53.51 lakh tonnes in 2021-22 from 49.16 lakh tonnes in the previous year.