Bhubaneswar: In order to help the farmers in availing adequate fertiliser, the Odisha government has requested the Centre to restore the previous season’s requirement of 4 lakh tonne of urea to the state.
Participating in a meeting chaired by Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers Mansukh Madaviya through video-conferencing, Swain said any reduction in the supply of urea will hamper the agriculture production in Odisha. He also requested Madaviya to release the required 75,000 tonne of MOP as the state is running short of about 39,000 tonne of MOP at present.
“Nano Urea adoption is to yet take off in Odisha with the farmers preferring the traditional urea. Hence, usage of Nano Urea should not be imposed upon the state. This might lead to farmers’ unrest. Besides, unlike many other progressive agricultural states, fertiliser consumption is relatively low in Odisha. Any attempt to push Nano Urea might affect the production because of low adoptability,” Swain said.
Swain further said the ceiling of assistance under the programme to 50% of the fertiliser subsidy saved under PM-PRANAM should be relaxed for Odisha as it is having lower rate of fertiliser consumption coupled with the problems of soil acidity (70% of cultivated area) and soil salination (6% of cultivated area) requiring greater support for soil amelioration.
Among others, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar and Agriculture Ministers of various states, Arabinda Kumar Padhee, principal secretary, Agriculture and FE department and Premchandra Choudhary, Director, Agriculture & Food Production attended the meeting.
