PACS without fertiliser licence to be barred from paddy ops
BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Monday directed all the primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACS) to renew their fertiliser licenses failing which they will be debarred from paddy procurement operations from next year.
The directive came from the Cooperation department after witnessing large-scale mismanagement in distribution of chemical fertilisers to farmers during peak kharif operation leading to protests. Long queues of farmers at cooperative societies were seen across the districts notwithstanding the claim of adequate stock of the soil nutrients.
“PACS should focus on fertiliser distribution as their primary business activity. Those who do not transact in fertilisers will not be allowed to engage in procurement operation,” said an official order from the office of the registrar of Cooperative Societies.
All deputy registrars of cooperative societies (DRCS) have been directed to prepare a strategy for pre-positioning of at least 50 per cent of the fertiliser stock in PACS before the onset of monsoon for distribution. The plan will be for the next kharif operation. The pre-positioning must begin from April each year and all preparedness including godown readiness, licence renewal and supply of point of sale (PoS) machines be completed by the end of that month.
A recent review on the status of fertiliser availability in different districts by the Cooperation secretary revealed that some districts like Ganjam, Cuttack, Balasore, Angul and Nayagarh are facing acute shortage of fertilisers while some other districts have stocks more than their requirement. As a result, fertiliser companies are reluctant to make further supply due to non-clearance of existing stocks at PoS.
As against a demand of 19,561 tonne, Ganjam has receive 10,640 tonne leaving a gap of 8,537 tonne. Cuttack district has received 5,700 tonne less than the indent while Angul required over 2,000 tonne, Nayagarh and Balasore districts have a shortfall of 1,500 tonne each. The Odisha State Cooperative Marketing Federation (MARKFED), the nodal agency, and the Agriculture department have been directed to ensure adequate supply to deficient districts and immediate clearance of stock from PoS.