January 2, 2015 by admin

Urea shortage artificial : Govt

Chandigarh,While farmers in the state are complaining about the shortage of urea, the state government has claimed that the shortage was artificial. A lot more urea has already been made available so far as compared with the supplies made during the corresponding period last year.Markfed Director Gurkirat Pal Singh said about 60,000 tonne more urea had reached farmers by December 31, 2014, as compared with the last year’s supplies. “We supply urea to the farmers in phases. That is the standard practice for years. The Centre Government also makes supplies to us in phases. The farmers also spray urea in phases. We are surprised at the demand of supplying the entire urea in one go,” he said.He said the government was trying to find out how an artificial shortage was being created. Government officials said 10 lakh tonne urea was received by December 15, as compared to 8.23 lakh tonne in previous year.In a statement issued early this week, Agriculture Minister Tota Singh said the state government had sent a requirement for 13,15,000 tonne urea for the current season and it was confident of making it available to the farmers in time.He appealed to the farmers not to hoard the fertiliser apprehending its shortage as it could lead to its artificial scarcity. He said the government was receiving and supplying urea in a phased manner as it was mainly required in January and February. “We will have sufficient supplies by that time. The state Agriculture Department has been asking for a proforma to be filled by each farmer, telling his requirement, so that a more efficient system can be developed for the supply of urea,” he said.