A severe fertiliser shortage is threatening the timely sowing of potato and allied crops like mustard in the ‘potato belt’ of Uttar Pradesh.
Thousands of farmers in the region are facing trouble procuring the requisite quantity of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and urea fertilisers.
At least half a dozen incidents of mob voilence and farmers’ unrest followed by lathicharge by the police had occurred last week in various districts of the region.
Bhartiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) Secretary Keshav Singh told Business Standard that the peasants are being forced to buy di-ammonium phosphate at exorbitant rates, artificially maintained by the black marketers and hoarders.
According to Singh, the co-operative societies and selling centres are able to provide only 20 per cent of the demand, while the rest has to be fulfilled from the open market, which is being controlled by the hoarders.
The demand-supply gap is so huge that the peasants return empty-handed despite queuing up for their turn from the midnight prior to the distribution day.
In Farrukhabad and Urai, the farmers vented their anger by blocking roads and staging strikes, following which around 20 farmers were injured when police resorted to lathicharge.
The di-ammonium phosphate, usually priced at Rs 471 per packet, currently sells for Rs 550-700 per packet in the black market, putting the marginal farmers in deep trouble.
The agriculture department had promised to take strict action against the black marketers but nothing has happened in this regard, rue peasants.
The demand for di-ammonium phosphate is expected to rise further when the sowing of wheat starts around November 15.
This quota will be distributed at the rate of 250,000 tonnes per month.
“The government should develop some mechanism to regulate the improper and biased distribution system and take timely action against the culprits, so that the common peasant can hope to continue with farming as a vocation. The farmers are falling prey to the evil designs of the hoarders and agents who virtually control the market,” lamented Singh.
The shortage wills seriously hampering the state government’s plans to push agriculture as a significant contributor to development. “If the authorities do not act fast, the scheme that our government has taken to bring back agriculture into many rural homes will go haywire,” said Professor R.P. Katiyar at CSA agricultural University, Kanpur.
Similar situation prevails in other districts of Hamirpur, Jalaun, Mahoba, Mainpuri and Urai, where a number of instances of clash between farmers and police have occurred in last ten days. The Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) secretary, Tilak Singh Rajput told that the co-operative societies are indulging in partial and unfair treatment of the farmers. The societies show stock exhaustion on paper and decline to distribute the stock, while supplying it to the open market. “Unless one resorts to some arm twisting measure or accompanies some powerful local contact, the society managers are not ready to dole out the fertilizer. When we resort to strike and other non-violent forms of protest to proclaim our demands, the administration man handles us in stead of solving the root cause. We have not received anything except empty promises and assurances from the administration,” he added.
State agriculture director, Rajit Ram Verma when asked about the step to resolve the ongoing crisis, told that a control room had been established in every district to monitor the distribution process and a complaint officer had been deputed to attend the grievances of farmers. “The presence of a government official has been made mandatory during the stock opening and distribution process at all the block, tehsil and district levels,” he added.
Regarding the steps to curb the increasing impact of hoarders and black marketers on the open market, he expressed his ‘inability’ to root out the practice but assured prompt action if some case was brought to notice. He further added that the quota of fertilizer had been increased by 25 per cent compared to last year and there was no dearth of fertilizer but admitted the hand of hoarders and miscreants in creating the artificial scarcity.
