No shortage of fertilizers in Odisha: Agriculture secretary
BHUBANESWAR: Amid allegations of acute shortage and black-marketing of fertilizers in the state, state agriculture secretary Saurabh Garg on Wednesday said there is no shortage of fertilizers in Odisha and the state government will ensure that farmers do not face any problem.
Amid the pandemic and flood, the Kharif 2020 preparedness was discussed in detail in the agriculture cabinet held via videoconferencing under the chairmanship of chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
“Odisha has so far lifted 6.66 lakh metric tonne (MT) of various fertilizers compared to 5.56 lakh MT lifted in August 2019 and 6.15 lakh MT in August 2018. As far as urea is concerned, around 2.9 lakh MT has been lifted by August against 1.72 lakh MT lifted by August, last year. There has been an increase of 150 per cent in lifting of urea by farmers,” said Garg adding the issue was also informed to the agriculture cabinet.
The agriculture secretary said there has been adequate availability of fertilizers in the state hence the farmers should not worry at all. “There may be some shortage in certain areas. But we have been taking steps to ensure adequate supply to such localities. We have been continuously reviewing the situation,” said Garg.
While the state government has targeted to take up cultivation over 61.61 lakh hectares during the current Kharif season, around 55.52 lakh hectares have been covered so far.
Farm credit worth Rs 9964.47 crore has been disbursed by the financial institutions benefitting 21 lakh farmers during the current Kharif. So far, 14.08 lakh farmers have been enrolled for crop insurance coverage, said Garg.
The agriculture secretary also informed that at present as many as 55,29,680 farmers have been verified as eligible for getting KALIA assistance, who would get the assistance when the government would release money in future. Garg said BALARAM (Bhoomihina Agriculturist Loan & Resources Augmentation Model) has been launched in association with Nabard to augment flow of credit to sharecroppers by forming joint liability groups.