Farmers concerned over shortage of fertiliser shortage in Erode 

ERODE: Farmers in Thalavadi are not able to take advantage of the decent rain that lashed the district in the last one week due to shortage of fertilisers.

"When it comes to delta region and area irrigated by Lower Bhavani Project (LBP) canal, the co-operative societies calculate the quantity of fertilisers required during each season and stock them. Since Thalavadi is a rain-fed region, the fertiliser requirement depends on the rainfall. This makes it hard for us to get fertilisers on time," said Ganesan, a farmer.

Farmers said shortage of fertilisers was a persistent issue in Thalavadi. Private dealers either fleeced them or forced them to buy fertilisers that do not have subsidy.  Kannaiyan Subramaniyan, convenor of Thalavadi Farmers' Association, said the fertilisers were not available with private dealers too.

"Two major fertiliser producing companies don't deliver their products to Thalavadi and private dealers have to transport them from Erode city. The latter say it is not profitable for them to sell the fertilisers at maximum retail price (MRP). If the fertilizer companies ask them to buy decontrolled fertilizers, they, in turn, force the farmers to buy them as well. Many farmers are struggling to get urea for the past one week. This will negatively impact the yield," he said.

Though the demand for fertilisers prevails throughout the year, it spikes in August-October when the region witnessed rainfall, Kannaiyan said adding that di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), urea and NPK were in high demand.

The farmers requested the agriculture department to give a prediction of the fertiliser demand in the region based on the average requirement in the previous years.

Agriculture department officials said they received fertilizers from Tamil Nadu Co-operative Marketing Federation on Tuesday, The fertilisers would be distributed to the region soon, they added.