Farmers in Cauvery Delta which comprises of the fertile districts of Tiruchirapalli, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Thiruvaroor and Cuddalore are reluctant to use urea imported from China. Farmers organisations warns that Chinese urea is of poor quality.
“We have found that the urea imported from China is of poor quality. Tests held last year on a consignment imported from China revealed that the nitrogen content is 12 per cent less than the mandatory 46 per cent as stipulated by the Union Government,” said Cauvery Dhanapalan, general secretary, Cauvery Delta Farmers Welfare Association.
RV Giri, general secretary, Consortium of Indian Farmers Association (CIFA), Tamil Nadu, said imported urea, especially the Chinese urea, has been found to be detrimental to the soil fertility. “Because of the less content of nitrogen in Chinese urea, we are forced to use more quantity. This adds to the cost of production. But the fertility of the soil comes down when we use more urea,” Giri told The Pioneer.
The move to import urea was taken following the discontinuation of production by the public sector Madras Fertilisers limited and the private sector giant SPIC. “China being a cold country, they have their own manufacturing practices. We have found that all fertilisers imported from China are of poor quality,” said KV Raj Kumar, president, CIFA, Tamil Nadu.
The Cauvery Delta districts together are known as the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu. Any shortage in the production of rice in the Delta districts would lead to major financial crisis in the State of Tamil Nadu. The short term Kuruvai crop ended up in a failure this year following the decision of the Karnataka Government not to release Cauvery waters. Farmers are waiting with bated breath for the long term Samba cultivation scheduled to begin by the end of this month.
A spokesman of the Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore ltd said farmers were right in doubting the quality of urea imported from China. “A shortage of 10 to 12 per cent nitrogen is a serious issue and a matter of concern,” he said.