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Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Tuesday urged the Centre to supply at least 1.03 lakh metric tonne of urea immediately as the farmers in the state are facing an acute shortage of the fertiliser during the current kharif season.
The state has received only 56,228 tonnes of urea in June as against its quota of 70,000 tonnes for the month, Agriculture and Farmers' Empowerment Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo said.
Compared to the stipulated quantity, the state has got 19,619 tonnes less urea in July, Sahoo said at a virtual meeting between state agriculture ministers and Union Minister of State for Chemical and Fertiliser Mansukh Mandaviya.
"Though there is a requirement of one lakh tonne of urea in the state, we have received only 34,150 tonnes by August 17. Therefore, I requested the Centre to supply about 1, 03,000 tonnes of urea to meet the demands," the minister said.
Odisha requires urea fertiliser for paddy cultivation in the June-September period every year. The state depends on fertiliser plants in northern and western regions as there is no such facility in eastern parts of the country.
"The fertiliser imported by Indian Potash Limited should be supplied to Odisha," Sahoo said.
Meanwhile, amid delayed agricultural activities due to deficit rainfall, farmers across the state alleged that the shortage of urea has led to a black-marketing of the agricultural input.
In order to deal with the situation, agriculture and Food Production director M Muthukumar has written to all district collectors to take action against the dealers who are involved in "artificial shortage" of urea to jack up its price.
(PTI)
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