Vijay Urges PM to Meet Fertilizer Need
Agricultural activities were in full swing to cultivate paddy, black gram, green gram, groundnut, gingelly and horticultural crops across the state and farmers were enthusiastic about maximizing cultivation since the onset of South West Monsoon had been predicted for the third week of May, Vijay said.
Chennai: Urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to issue necessary instructions to ensure that the shortfall in fertilizers in Tamil Nadu was made good immediately, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay said crop cultivation in the current Kharif season had received a fillip due to various conducive factors and a sharp surge in demand for straight fertilizers, particularly Urea and DAP, was expected in the coming days.
Drawing the attention of the Prime Minister to the shortfall in supply of fertilizers by the manufacturers during April and May 2026, Vijay, in a letter on Tuesday, wanted necessary instructions to be given to the authorities concerned for supply of 3.83 lakh MT of Urea, 1.05 lakh MT of DAP and 0.83 lakh MT of MOP to meet the demands of the rest of the season.
Tamil Nadu was an agrarian state having a Gross Cultivated Area of 62.25 lakh hectares and a net sown area of 48.27 lakh hectares with agriculture providing livelihood to more than 40% of the population, he said, adding that about 92% of the total farmers were small and marginal farmers who possessed land holdings less than 2 hectares.
Endowed with 3% of the water resources in India, the State had a diversified cropping system that included paddy, millets, oilseeds, cotton, sugarcane, vegetables, flowers, fruits, medicinal and aromatic crops, spices and condiments and plantation Crops, he said.
Since assuming office on May 10, he had been reviewing various activities, department wise, and found that fertilizer manufacturers had not supplied fertilizers as per the Union Government’s supply plan for April and May, leaving a shortage of 39,001 MT of Urea, 28,607 MT of DAP and 24,235 MT of MOP in the last two months, he said.
Agricultural activities were in full swing to cultivate paddy, black gram, green gram, groundnut, gingelly and horticultural crops across the state and farmers were enthusiastic about maximizing cultivation since the onset of South West Monsoon had been predicted for the third week of May, he said.
Such increased agricultural activity would lead to an increase the demand for fertilizers and shortage of fertilizers, the State Government was keen on ensuring adequate availability of fertilizers to cover 25 lakh hectares under various crops during Kharif 2026, which accounted for nearly 40% of the Gross Cropped Area in the State, he said.
Shortage of fertilizer would prove costly for the food security of the State, he said.