Ensure supply or face blacklisting: J&K to fertiliser firms

The Jammu and Kashmir government today directed all fertiliser companies operating in the state to ensure availability of manure to farmers at the block level and warned them of blacklisting if they failed to do so.
"All fertiliser companies operating in the state should ensure availability of fertilisers to farmers at the block level," Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir said during a review meeting here today.
The Jammu Agriculture Director, who is also the state's Fertiliser Controller, has been asked to blacklist companies which fail to comply with the directive, he said.
The minister laid stress on the availability of manure before the sowing season and directed officials to ensure availability well ahead in Ladakh, Poonch, Rajouri, Doda areas in view of difficult terrain and harsh climatic conditions.

"In no way should there be any scarcity of fertilisers in the state," Mir said.
Advocating entry of more and more private players in fertiliser distribution to improve availability, the minister urged fertiliser companies to hold awareness camps for farmers and asked them to submit their activity proposals to the government within 15 days.

He directed the Jammu Agriculture Director to monitor the activities of retail and wholesale fertiliser units.
The meeting was told that at present 4,600 tonnes of urea is stocked in the state, out of which 970 tonnes are in Jammu and 3,679 tonnes in Kashmir. The state has a stock of 9,000 tonnes of DAP.

The meeting was told that the J&K Agro Industries and JAKFED are also making sufficient credit available for procurement of fertilisers.