Centre should take steps to reduce fertiliser prices: Vaiko

The prices of 50 kg of various fertilizers such as DAP and Potash had gone up from Rs 486 and Rs 206 in 2009 to Rs 1250 and Rs 840, he said. "With the government itself insising on usage of chemical fertilizers, farmers have used them for the past 50 years and they don`t have a choice than to continue using them. Their prices have gone up by 100-200 per cent, which is not fair for the farmers," he said in a statement.

For the benefit of farmers, the Centre should either take steps to reduce prices to their prevailing rates of 2009 or "at least subsidise the hike," he said, adding the Centre and state government should also accord more priority for crop insurance.