The State is set to get 51,000 tonnes of urea from the Centre on Friday in the wake of increasing demand that has seen a record sowing in the kharif season.
Disclosing this to reporters in Bengaluru on Thursday, Agriculture Minister B.C. Patil said Union fertilizers Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda had informed him about arrival of fertilizers from the Centre.
Mr. Patil explained that the State had reported sowing coverage of 95% by completing sowing on 68.26 lakh hectares of land till August 19 as against the target of 73 lakh hectares set for kharif.
As against the demand of 6,78,055 tonnes of urea from April 1 to August 20, the State had seen a supply of 4,88,163 tonnes. This had surpassed the previous year’s supply by 1,89,892 tonnes, he said.
Similarly, giving details about the demand and supply scenario in August, the Minister said the monthly demand for urea had been assessed at 1,77,000 tonnes. While 1,14,194 tonnes of urea had been supplied so far, the remaining quantum of 62,806 tonnes was in the process of being supplied, he noted. He said district-level vigilance teams of the Agriculture Department were analysing the quality of fertilizers through inspection to sales units and also initiating action against those overpricing them.
He explained that the Centre would supply the fertilizers to the State on monthly basis depending upon the demand forecast prepared by the State government. The fertilizers would be distributed to different districts based on the demand.
Meanwhile, some of the areas, including Ramanagaram, continued to reel under shortage of urea. Dryland farmers, who are particularly cultivating fodder crops in the rainy season, were disappointed as they could not get urea when it rained well. Former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy highlighted this situation in his tweets.
Good rainfall and change in choice of crops has resulted in increased demand for urea in the northern districts. While authorities claim there is enough stock, panic buying of urea by some farmers seems to have added to the fears of fertilizer shortage.
Joint Director of Agriculture of Dharwad, Rajashekhar I.B., said there was more demand for urea as farmers had sown maize and cotton on large tracts of land.
In most of districts, the authorities had anticipated the demand and had sought additional supply in July. However, panic buying seems to have triggered a shortage.
Misconception among farmers about the size of urea granules seems to have added to the problem. Farmers are reluctant to buy big granules in northern districts although it is as effective as small granules, an official said.
