Farmers now pay double the price to buy urea and DAP in open market
Owing to height of paddy growing state in state farmers are are paying double price for urea and DAP in open market
Chennai: Farmers have been hit by an acute shortage of fertilisers at the height of the paddy growing season in the state. Due to shortage of fertilisers, they are forced to buy urea and DAP at double the cost in the open market, said MDMK general secretary Vaiko. In a statement here, Mr Vaiko said last year, through cooperative societies, urea was sold at a cost of Rs 270 per 50 kg bag while DAP cost about Rs 1,125.
“With the inadequate stock of fertilisers in the agricultural cooperative societies, farmers are purchasing fertilisers from the open market, but a 50 kg bag of urea is being sold at a price of Rs 500 and DAP, at Rs1,500,” he said.The MDMK leader said even if farmers were willing to purchase fertilisers at very high cost, traders are illegally hoarding it to create artificial scarcity. Farmers have been staging protests against the shortage of urea for the last two weeks across the state but the government denies any scarcity in fertilisers, he charged.
Blaming the Centre’s fertiliser policy for the present situation, he said the closure of Madras Fertilisers Ltd, Mangalore Fertilisers Ltd and SPIC was due to stopping of the supply of subsidised naphtha.“This not only created as shortage of fertilisers but also a price rise,” he said, urging the governments to take steps to make available adequate quantities of fertilisers through cooperative societies.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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