Dabugaon: Peeved over the short supply of urea, hundreds of farmers took to the streets blocking State Highway-39 for hours in Dabugaon locality of Nabarangpur district, Tuesday. Traffic came to a standstill on the route for hours, a report said. According to the report, shortage of the fertilizer has affected farming in the district. This has irked the farmers who want supply of urea in a systematic manner.
Four days ago, scores of farmers from 12 panchayats, members of Dabugaon Krushak Sangh and local Congress leaders held talks with tehsildar Sandhya Samarth about the problems arising out of lack of supply of urea at the peak of the farming activities in the region.
The tehsildar had then assured the farmers that the requisite amount of urea would be supplied to them in two days. Farmers alleged that four days have passed since the meeting. However, till date the supply of urea is yet to start.
Agitating farmers took out a rally from the tehsil office area to SH-39. The held placards and banners and laid siege on the road from 10 am till 2.30 pm.
They pointed out that in Dabugaon area over 80 per cent people depend on agriculture. When the farming season is at its peak, the shortage of fertilizer is a major cause for concern.
“Since no action was taken despite assurance by the tehsildar, we resorted to protests despite heavy rains,” the farmers said.
Adequate supply of urea at fair prices has been a constant demand for the agitating farmers.
In the afternoon, Dabugaon tehsildar Samarth, IIC Surendra Nath Behuria and assistant agriculture officer Duryodhan Jani convinced the farmers that they would get fertilizers by farmers Wednesday. Then, the farmers relented and called off the agitation.