Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has written a letter to the Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya for his intervention in the matter of supply of fertilizers to the state as per the monthly agreed supply plan including the backlog of the previous months.
In his letter, Naveen has said that during the months of May, June and July there has been severe short supply of different fertilizers. During the current Kharif season, till date, the State has received only 1, 45,145 MT of urea against the allocation of 2,31,530 MT and agreed supply plan of 2,10,000 MT. Similarly, during the period, the State has received 97,763 MT of DAP against the allocation of 1,52,000 MT and agreed supply plan of 1,45,000 MT. Also, 42,867 MT of MOP and 1,05,798 MT of NPKS has been supplied against the allocation of 67,200 MT and 1,68,400 and agreed supply plan of 60,000 MT and 1,42,000 MT respectively. The overall supply of urea has been 62% against the allocation and 69% against the agreed supply plan. For other fertilizers it is 60% to 74%.
Naveen has also written in the letter that the farmers in the State have suffered severe crop loss due to recent past YAAS and several cyclonic storms during the previous years. Therefore, to optimize their production, the supply of the most critical input i.e., fertilizer, should be as per requirement. As mid-July to September is the peak consumption period for urea in the State and July to August is the peak period of demand for all other fertilizers, the short supply of fertilizers to the state at this juncture will adversely affect the agricultural production in the state and unnecessarily invite law and order situation in most of the districts.