The Agriculture Department in Kalaburagi is all prepared for the kharif season with sufficient stock of fertilizer and seeds in the district.
“There is no problem with the availability of fertilizer and seeds in the district and farmers need not worry about stock,” Joint Director for Agriculture Department Rithendra Sugoor has said.
Speaking to The Hindu here on Monday, he said that the department has set a target of producing 7.72 lakh tonnes of foodgrains in 7.55 lakh hectares area during the kharif season.
Raitha Kendras
Mr. Sugoor said that seeds will be made available for farmers in all the 32 Raitha Samparka Kendras in the district at a subsidised price.
As much as 16,155 quintals of seeds of various crops have been stocked in such kendras against a total requirement of 23,816 quintals.
“We have 9,300 quintals of red gram seeds against a demand for 10,410 quintals and 350 quintals of green gram against the requirement of 1,366 quintals. There is 5,000 quintals of soyabean seeds in stock against a demand for 10,235 quintals. Compared to seeds sold through the kendras during the last kharif season, the stock available now is sufficient. Even then, we have written seeking allotment of an additional 13,785 quintals of seeds,” Mr. Sugoor said.
He said that there is an adequate supply of fertilizer. The department has allocated 73,096 tonnes of fertilizer against a demand for 1,19,395 tonnes.
At present, the district has 29,489 tonnes of fertilizer, including 3,289 tonnes in buffer and 26,200 tonnes in retail, in stock.
The highest demand will come for DAP and Urea during the kharif season in June and July.
The department has allocated 33,927 tonnes of DAP against a demand for 54,300 tonnes and 24,519 tonnes of Urea against the requirement of 34,900 tonnes.
The department will soon get an additional stock of DAP (24,513 tonnes) and Urea (20,367 tonnes).
Officials have been instructed to take safety measures at Raitha Samparka Kendras to avoid the spread of COVID-19, Mr. Sugoor added.
