Fertiliser, foodgrain stocks a ‘worry’

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 1

As the state government prepares for another round of talks with the protesting farm unions over ‘rail roko’, the depleting stocks of fertilisers and hampering of the movement of foodgrain outside has left the state in dire straits.

State may face storage issues

• If foodgrain is not moved, total food stocks will rise, leaving little space to buy or store wheat in next rabi season
• Due to shortage of coal for thermal plants, the cost of domestic power will rise, say officials

Sources in the government said against the state’s requirement of 13.5 lakh tonne urea, only 2.2 tonne was currently left, which may lead to black marketing.

With only 30 per cent of gunny bales available for the purchase of paddy, the procurement of the crop was slowing down. Many rakes meant to move the crop outside the state were stuck in other states.

As for foodgrain, the state currently had 1.35 lakh tonne wheat and 57 lakh tonne rice stock. It will need another 110 lakh tonne rice once the milling of the current paddy is complete.

If the movement of the foodgrain didn’t happen, the total food stock storage would rise to 302 lakh tonne, leaving little space to buy or store wheat in the next rabi season.

Already, 289 rakes had been forfeited during the ‘rail roko’ period. This had hugely benefitted Haryana as it had been able to move additional stocks and create vacant storage space.

Due to shortage of coal for thermal plants, the cost of domestic power was bound to rise, said officials.

Darshan Pal, convener of the 30 farmer associations, said they were sensitive to the issues being red-flagged by the state government and were meeting on November 4 to take a decision in the interest of the state and also carry forward their

fight against the Central agriculture laws.