Make up for shortfall in fertiliser supply: Odisha government to Centre

BHUBANESWAR: As kharif crop operation has picked up due to normal monsoon, the State government has requested the Centre to supply chemical fertilisers as per the allotment to meet the increasing demand of farmers.

In a letter to Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers DV Sadananda Gowda, Agriculture Minister Arun Sahoo said the State is facing shortage of urea due to short supply of fertiliser in May and June against the allotment.

Stating that the State had received its quota for April, Sahoo said that different fertilisers are in short supply for May and June. Since the demand for urea is more, Sahoo said the State has received only 34,340 tonne in May against the allocation of 48,950 tonne.

Against the monthly allocation of 70,830 tonne for the current month, only 18,690 tonne of urea has been delivered till June 18, he said.

The Minister said only 37,519 tonne of DAP, 8,803 tonne of MOP and 46,902 tonne of NPK have been supplied to the State against the allocation of 82,000 tonne, 28,000 tonne and 81,600 tonne respectively for May and June. During the last kharif, the State had also experienced scarcity of urea due to short supply of 45,000 tonne, he added.

As the State has planned to preposition two lakh tonne of urea through the fertiliser procurement agencies by the end of this month, Sahoo requested the Union Minister to supply the entire allocated quantity of fertiliser including the shortfall of previous months to the State by end of June.