Bhubaneswar: Odisha Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain has urged the Centre to restore the previous season’s requirement of 4lakh MT of Urea to the state.
Participating in a meeting chaired by Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Mansukh L Mandaviya, through video conferencing Friday from Bhubaneswar, Swain said any reduction in the supply of Urea fertilizer will hamper the agriculture production in the State.
He requested the Union minister to release the required 75,000 MT of MOP as the state is running short of about 39,000 MT of MOP at present.
Swain said Nano Urea adoption is to take off in Odisha and the farmers of the state prefer the traditional Urea. Hence, usage of Nano Urea should not be imposed upon.
The fertilizer consumption, the minister said, is relatively low in the state and any attempt to push Nano-Ureas might affect the production because of low adoptability. He, however, said the state is encouraging the farmers to adopt Nano Urea progressively.
Swain suggested that the ceiling of assistance under the PM-PRANAM programme to 50 per cent of the fertilizer subsidy be relaxed for Odisha as it is having a lower rate of fertilizer consumption.
UNI