Farmers protest short supply of urea 

SAMBALPUR: Farmers under the banner of Sambalpur Zilla Krushak Suraksha Sangathan (SZKSS) gheraoed the district agriculture office here over short supply of urea fertiliser for the on-going rabi paddy crop on Monday.They demanded immediate supply of fertilizer as the paddy crop badly required urea at the present stage for growth of its plants. Urea is not available with the dealers and the primary agricultural co-operative societies (PACS) in the district. If the fertilizer is not applied in the right time, it will affect the growth of paddy plants and delay yield, they said.

Altogether there is a requirement of 9,500 tonnes of urea for the current rabi season, the district has received only 4,600 tonnes. The agriculture department has set a target to cultivate paddy over 14,650 hectares (ha) of land during the rabi season. General secretary of SZKSS Byomkesh Thakur said farmers generally experience scarcity of urea during kharif season as paddy is cultivated across the district. However, paddy is cultivated only in irrigated belt during the rabi season and farmers generally get sufficient quantity of urea. But for the first time, the farmers of the district are experiencing shortage of urea this year, he said. 

The transplantation of paddy has already been completed in the district and the standing crops badly require fertiliser. The urea should be applied within 15 days after transplantation, but there is a scarcity of the fertiliser in the district. Finding no way out, they resorted to agitation, he rued. District Agriculture Officer Rabi Narayan Naik admitted that the farmers are facing problem due to scarcity of urea. They have already informed their higher authorities over the matter and the district is likely to receive urea by March 1, he added.