BHUBANESWAR: The State Government on Tuesday urged the Centre for allocation of 1.75 lakh tonnes of urea in August to meet the increasing demand for the fertiliser.
Though the Centre had increased the State’s quota from 9.80 lakh MT to 10.75 lakh MT of different varieties of fertilisers for Kharif-2015, the State has so far received 2.91 lakh MT of urea as against its kharif quota of 5.25 lakh MT.
As the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers has indicated an allocation of 1.14 lakh MT of urea for the month of August, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik shot off a letter to Union Minister Ananth Kumar requesting an enhanced allocation of 1.75 lakh MT.
Reminding the Union Minister that the State is due to receive 2.34 lakh MT of urea during the remaining kharif season for August and September, Naveen said an allocation of 1.14 lakh MT of urea will be grossly inadequate to meet the increasing demand of farmers.
“Short supply of urea during peak agricultural operation period will not only affect the productivity of crops, but also lead to law and order problems,” Naveen said.
The Chief Minister said the State has received good rainfall during June and July and agricultural operations are in full swing. There is an increased demand for fertilisers and the Centre should consider the genuine need of the farming community.