AGRA: A 60-year-old farmer, identified as Ram Brajesh, died of sheer exhaustion while waiting in a queue outside a fertiliser shop on Friday in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad district. Brajesh passed out standing in the queue and later died during treatment at a local community health center, said police. The officials said his body was cremated without conducting an autopsy.
With the commencement of the sowing season for Rabi crops (including wheat, mustard and pulses), farmers in the state are struggling to get di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), fertiliser essential to enhance crop yield. With long queues outside government-run cooperative societies, farmers in Agra district alleged that they are unable to procure fertilisers for their cultivation. Many of them also complained of being overcharged for DAP. They said DAP weighing 50 kg that should cost them Rs 1350 was being sold to them at Rs 1750 a bag. According to the farmers, the DAP requirement per acre is 100 kg.
One Etah-based farmer, Jograj Singh, said, “I have been coming to the local cooperative society to get DAP for the last two days. On Saturday, I reached at around 5 am and even after waiting for the whole day, I was not able to get a single bag of DAP. Hundreds of farmers are facing the same situation.”
Echoing similar sentiments, Kasganj-based farmer Mukesh Rathore said the secretary of the cooperative society claimed that the point-of-sale machine is not working due to a network error and the DAP cannot be distributed. “I have to sow wheat across 40 acres and need at least 80 bags. Sowing time is running out. We will permanently block the highway if the DAP is not provided to us.”
Rajveer Lawaniya, Agra district president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, said, “The DAP fertiliser is a basic nutrient for Rabi crops. Running out of time, farmers have started sowing potatoes without it, which will reduce the yield by 60%. We will launch an indefinite strike if the required supply of DAP is not ensured by the local authorities.”
Meanwhile, on Saturday, several farmers staged a protest at a fertiliser warehouse in Kirwali block of Agra district alleging that fake DAP bags containing ash mixed with mud were allegedly being provided to them. Local MLA Chaudhary Babulal reached the centre and apprised senior officials about the entire matter. “We will ensure farmers get unadulterated fertilizers at price set by the government in a time bound manner," MLA said.
Speaking on this, Vinod Kumar, deputy director, agriculture, Agra division, said, “Following the festive season, there has been some delay in distribution of DAP to the cooperative societies. Adequate supply of DAP will be ensured at all the purchase centres in the next one week. In case of black marketing, farmers can directly report the matter to the police and other local authorities.”
