Kendrapara: Black marketing of fertilizers has hit the farmers here at a time when they are preparing fields for the ensuing Kharif season, a report said Friday. The district experienced medium floods following incessant rainfall that lashed the state at the onset of the monsoon. Floods were witnessed in seven rivers and 27 nullahs which submerged farmlands spread in 118 revenue villages.
Although the farmlands are yet to be cleared of floodwater, the farmers without losing heart have started preparing for kharif cultivation. The farmers, after sowing seeds, were gearing up for transplantation when black marketing of fertilizers has come as a rude shock to them. The farmers have to cough out more money to buy fertilizers from the open market due to the short supply of fertilizers to various primary agricultural credit societies (PACS) in the district. Farmers and farmer leaders apprehend that short supply and black marketing of fertilizers might seriously impact the farm works during this kharif season. While the price of a sack of urea is Rs 270, traders and black marketeers are selling it at a whopping Rs 480 per sack. “This year farmers have taken up cultivation on 1,17,554 hectare of farmland for the kharif season out of the total farmland of 1,42,165 hectare in the district,” a farmer leader Gayadhar Dhal said The farmers need a total of 9,500 metric tonnes of urea fertiliser to continue with their cultivation. There is a need of 900 MT of urea for Kendrapara block, 585 MT for Derabish block, 318 MT for Marshaghai block and 1,270 MT for Mahakalapara block.
Similarly, the urea requirement is 420 MT for Garadpur block, 545 MT for the Pattamundai block, 311 MT for Aul block, 1,030 MT for Rajkanika block and 1,121 MT for Rajnagar block. This apart, the farmers also need 14,400 metric tonne of other fertilizers for the proper growth of their paddy crops. However, chemical fertilizer is yet to reach the 114 PACSs or 311 registered fertiliser sales centres in the district. “This will seriously impact the paddy cultivation during the kharif season,” Dhal lamented. Another farmer leader Ghanashyam Behera said the scarcity of fertilizers has resulted in skyrocketing prices. The state government and Centre always speak of giving utmost importance to agriculture and farmers’ welfare.
However, the reality is different with farmers feeling the pinch of fertiliser shortage in the market and government stores. The government has not only failed to provide fertiliser, seeds and pesticides to the farmers but the training programme announced for the farmers is also limited to pen and paper. Farmers have been feeling let down with fertilizer shortage hitting them right from the start of kharif season. Mrutyunjaya Samal, a farmer of Bagada village, said he has undertaken cultivation of kharif crops on three-acre land. He has borrowed for the purpose and purchased seeds with the loan money. However, he has failed to transplant the saplings due to a lack of ferlitisers. When contacted, district agriculture officer Himanshu Mohan Mishra said that they have sent the indent for fertilizers and have received only 6 metric tonne for the district so far. He assured that farmers will soon get rid of fertilizer shortage by next week.
