Chennai: Minister of Agriculture Tamil Nadu and Welfare of Farmers M Panneerselvam urged the center to ensure timely supply of fertilizer for the benefit of farmers in the state.
Quoting backlogs and delays in inventory, he asked the center to ensure imported fertilizers, intended for Tamil Nadu, transferred through the port in the state and neighboring Puducherry.
In a letter to the Minister of Chemicals and Mansukh Mandaviya’s fertilizer, Panneerselvam said the water was released from the metture dam on time for Curuvai cultivation in the Delta region thanks to a good southwest monsoon.
“Due to the implementation of Kuruvai’s special package, the extent of Kuruvai plants have exceeded 3.5 lakh hectares targeted and touched 4.9 lakh hectares.
This is a record for the past 46 years,” he said.
Next, because of excessive rain, water is released from almost all dams in Tamil Nadu Selatan for agriculture.
Padi cultivation has increased by more than 10 hectares in all states.
This is more than 2.72 lakh hectares over the past year.
“Until now, more than 26.4 Lakh Acres of Area has been brought under various plants this year.
As a result, demand for Urea and DAP increased,” Panneerselvam said.
From April, 2021 to August, 2021, although the center has allocated 3.83 lakh tons of urea to Tamil Nadu, the country has so far only received 2.56 lakh tons.
Supply of around 1.27 lakh tons of urea is still delayed, he said.
In the case of DAP too, while 1.2 lakh Tonne was allocated to the state, Tamil Nadu until now only received 87,000 tons and there was a shortage of 33,000 tons, he said.
“Considering the fact that farmers have carried out various plants by about 26.4 lakh hectares, there is an urgent need to accelerate the supply of fertilizer.
To avoid further delays, the center can route the supply of imported fertilizers through ports in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry,” Panneerselvam said.