No shortage of fertiliser in Karnataka: agriculture dept

The department of agriculture has promised farmers that there was no shortage of fertiliser in the state and their demand would be met adequately. As against the demand for 625,000 tonnes between April and August this year, the department supplied 604,000 tonnes so far, the department said in a statement.

Besides this, the Karnataka State Cooperative Marketing Federation has supplied another 71,000 tonnes of urea taking the availability to 675,000 tonnes. Of this, 634,000 tonnes has been sold to farmers. The federation is left with 31,000 tonnes in its godowns and the private traders are holding another 45,000 tonnes with them, B K Dharmarajan, Director, Department of Agriculture, said in a statement.

The sowing has picked up pace in the state following bountiful rains across the state. Till now, the sowing has been completed on 83 per cent of the targeted area. The state government had demanded the Centre supply 150,000 tonnes urea for August. But, the Centre has supplied 89,000 tonnes till now and the remaining 61,000 tonnes is expected to be supplied by the end of August, the agriculture department said in the statement.

The Central government has directed fertiliser companies to meet the state’s demand for August. The agriculture department has initiated measures to redistribute the required quantity to the respective districts.

Similarly, for September, as per requirements of the state, the Centre has allocated 176,000 tonnes of urea to Karnataka. The agriculture department would take measures to supply the required quantity to respective districts as per the sowing schedule, the statement added.