With agricultural activities picking up in Bastar, demand for chemical fertiliser like Urea and DAP (Diammonium phosphate)has also shot up and farmers are seen running from pillar to post to procure these two chemical fertilizer used in the beginning of crop plantation. Cooperative committees failed to provide them the desired quantity of fertiliser despite their claim that adequate storage of fertilizer was made in the division.
It is noteworthy that to increase their farm yield, farmers in Chhattisgar too have started using fertiliser in big way resulting in demand for fertiliser rising year on year. On the other hand, this year a target was set for storage of 51 thousand 991 metric ton in Bastar division against which only 30,148 metric ton fertiliser was stored.
Out of this, Dantewada district stood at the bottom with storage of merely 239 metric ton whereas Kanker had the maximum with 15,560 metric ton. According to sources, at present only 10,272 metric ton fertiliser is available in the cooperative committees of Bastar division.
Notably, after the incessant rains for a fortnight, weather has opened in Bastar engaging farmers in farm work on a war footing. Since DAP and potash is used in preparation of field for paddy plantation and urea just after the plantation of saplings so that paddy saplings grow rapidly, demand for these fertilizers has also gone up. Since farmers are not keeping fertiliser in store they are now forced to procure it from cooperative societies as well as private dealers who often resort to increase the prices on the pretext of short supply/ non availability.
Meanwhile, Marketing Officer of District Cooperative Bank R B Singh claimed that all the DMOs have been instructed to store required fertiliser in adequate quantity and that at present there was adequate stock of fertilisers in cooperative committees. Singh said that farmers won’t have to face the scarcity of fertiliser or seed.