Bhubaneswar: The BJD Wednesday strongly criticised the Odisha BJP government over alleged scarcity of fertiliser during the ongoing Kharif season, which has pushed lakhs of farmers into severe distress.
The BJD also alleged that there was rampant black marketing of fertiliser in the state and complete administrative failure.
However, the state government rejected the allegations and claimed that there was no such scarcity of fertiliser for farmers during the Kharif season.
The allegations made by the opposition are baseless. There is no shortage of fertiliser for the kharif season, Odisha’s Cooperation minister Pradeep Bal Samant claimed.
Addressing a press conference here, BJD leaders – Arun Kumar Sahoo, Sanjay Das Burma and Atanu S Nayak- alleged that though the state government has repeatedly assured farmers that there is no shortage of fertilisers, the ground reality is completely different. The government has utterly failed to ensure timely availability of fertilisers to farmers across various parts of Odisha, Sahoo alleged.
Stating that nearly 70 per cent of Odisha’s population depends on agriculture, and around 39 lakh hectares of land are cultivated under Kharif paddy every year, Sahoo, a former Agriculture minister, noted that during the current Kharif season, Odisha requires approximately 11.43 lakh metric tonnes of fertilisers.
However, as July 17, only around 1.81 lakh metric tonnes of fertilisers had reached the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS), he claimed, adding that of this, only 1.14 lakh metric tonnes had been distributed to farmers.
With merely 10 per cent of the seasonal requirement supplied so far, an artificial fertiliser crisis has been created across the state, Sahoo claimed, adding the shortage of fertilisers during the peak transplantation period has pushed farmers into deep anxiety.
Calling the BJP’s double engine government a trouble engine government for the farmers of Odisha, Sahoo said despite the BJP government being in power at the Centre for nearly 12 years, fertiliser production has still not commenced at the Talcher Fertiliser Plant.
While the expenditure on fertilisers per acre was around Rs 3,000 in 2014, it has now increased to nearly Rs 7,000-7,500. The BJP had promised to double farmers’ income, however, it has instead doubled the financial burden on farmers, he claimed.
Nayak claimed that in many districts, farmers are forced to wait throughout the night outside PACS and fertiliser outlets to obtain just one bag of urea. It is unfortunate that instead of ensuring adequate availability of urea, the government is attempting to conceal the shortage by promoting complex fertilisers and alternative fertilisers, he said.
The BJD leader said that the government itself has acknowledged the shortage of urea and DAP by directing district administrations to promote alternative fertilisers. This clearly establishes the government’s complete failure to address the problems faced by farmers, they claimed.
While urea contains 46 per cent nitrogen, many of the fertilisers being promoted as alternatives contain only 21 per cent nitrogen, making them incapable of serving as a genuine substitute for urea, Nayak said, adding that while the government fixed retail price of a 45 kg bag of urea is Rs 266.50, farmers are being forced to purchase the same from the open market for Rs 500-600 due to scarcity.
