Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) today staged a protest near the Raj Bhawan alleging short supply of fertilizers by the Centre.
The BJD leaders submitted a memorandum to Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal in this regard.
Odisha farmers have cultivated paddy and non-paddy crops on 61.96 lakh hectares of land this year, said senior BJD leader Sanjay Kumar Das Burma.
An Agreed Action Plan was finalized between the Centre and the State Government, under which the former should provide fertilizers to the farmers within a fixed period of time.
However, there is no fertilizer supply by the Centre during the ongoing Kharif marketing season, he added.
Earlier, a BJD MP delegation had met Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya and handed over a memorandum demanding supply of fertilizers for the farmers of Odisha.
The delegation informed the Union Minister that while fertilizers are one of the most important agricultural inputs for the farmers but it has been in short supply in Odisha for the months of May, June and July, 2021.
While requirement for Urea is 2.1 lakh Metric Ton (MT) only 1.45 lakh MT has been received. Similarly for DAP while 1.45 lakh MT is the requirement, only 0.97 lakh MT has been received. For MOP while 60,000 MT is the requirement only 42,867 MT has been provided and for NPKS while 1.42 lakh MT is the requirement, only 1.05 lakh MT has been provided in Kharif-2021.