Fertiliser sector counts losses as floods erase subsidy trail 

As the fertile top soil has been washed away, experts feel the soil needs to be tested and sufficient quantities of organic manure, major and minor nutrients applied.
Fertiliser sector counts losses as floods erase subsidy trail 

PALAKKAD: While the extent of damage to crops in the floods has been estimated at 56,439 hectares, a related sector supplying agriculture inputs too remains battered. Tonnes of fertilisers and pesticides have been laid waste after floodwater gushed into shops.As the fertile top soil has been washed away, experts feel the soil needs to be tested and sufficient quantities of organic manure, major and minor nutrients applied. Amendments also need to be made to the soil to restore fertility.

“Post the implementation of DBT (direct benefit transfer) by the Union Agriculture Ministry in January this year, sales are to be recorded only when it is effected through the Aadhaar-linked PoS machines on a real-time basis,” said Induchoodan, area manager of India Potash Ltd (IPL).“The subsidy is credited by the Fertilisers Ministry to manufacturers every week based on the liquidation of stocks,” he said.

Since this is the first instance after DBT implementation where a natural calamity has resulted in huge damage to stocks of retailers resulting in no record of ‘sale’, the ministry will have to take a call based on the report of the state government, he said.DBT state coordinator Satheesh said the state government is the nodal monitoring authority for the distribution of fertilisers. Either the agriculture officer or the fertiliser inspector will have to visit the retailers’ depots and compute the damage. The information will be collated and submitted to the ministry, which will decide on the treatment of the damage.

PoS machines damaged
In districts such as Ernakulam and Thrissur, Induchoodan said, the retailers’ PoS machines have also been damaged. A report on the damage to PoS machines (whether serviceable or not) will be sent to FACT, the issuing agency for the machines in Kerala. 

“I had stocked chemical fertilisers in my godown in Alangad near Aluva which was flooded. The compound wall collapsed and water entered the godown. The losses run into `72 lakh, only a portion of which was insured,” said R M Vinod Kumar of Tropical Agro Systems, Aluva.Pathanamthitta’s Vadasserikara Cooperative Bank secretary Jays George said, “Factamfos, potash and urea to the tune of `6 lakh were damaged.” 

Agro Trading Corporation in Kodungallur saw stocks worth `42 lakh, including chemical and organic manure, getting submerged.Kerala Fertiliser Mixture Producers Association president T M Bharath Kumar said there are around 80 wholesale and around 3,500 retail dealers (private and cooperative) at the village level engaged in the distribution of agriculture inputs.

“Many of them are uninsured and stay afloat by borrowing from banks. In the credit-oriented input sector, at least `80-100 crore are always outstanding in the market,” he said.The disposal of damaged/drenched stocks, he said, is also an ecological issue.There should be proper guidelines and monitoring. Documents, bills and licences need to be replaced and the interest waiver should be extended to this sector too, he said.

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