JEYPORE: Reeling under acute shortage of fertilisers, farmers of Jeypore are now staring at more woes as private outlets have shut shop fearing action from the administration. Amid short supply of the vital agricultural input, the Koraput district administration has launched a crackdown on unscrupulous traders and is raiding godowns of fertiliser suppliers and private dealers’ outlets in the region. Fearing action, a majority of the dealers have downed their shutters or stopped selling fertilisers to farmers, thereby aggravating the situation.
Sources said the fertiliser crisis is more acute in Jeypore, Borrigumma, Kotpad, Kundra, Kumuli and Boipariguda areas. Farmers of these pockets are running from pillar to post for fertilisers to save their kharif crops. Earlier, some dealers were selling fertilizers to farmers with other agriculture manures and pesticides but the traders stopped the business by fearing official action that caused further difficulties for the farmers community. Usually, private dealers procure fertilisers from major supplying agencies and sell these to local farmers during both kharif and rabi seasons.
Linga Nayak, a farmer of Jeypore, said, “I have been making rounds of different outlets for a bag of fertiliser since the last three days but to no avail. Dealers from Jeypore to Borrigumma have closed their shops on the pretext that raids are going on.”
A fertiliser dealer of Ambaguda village said he has stopped selling fertilisers as it is risk to stock or sell the agricultural input in the current situation. Private dealers will resume the fertiliser business only after availability of adequate stock from the supplying agencies. Official sources said of the total 205 fertiliser dealers in Koraput district, 95 have faced raids by the administration so far.