BHOPAL: Even though there were protests in Gwalior-Chambal region against shortage of Urea, farmers of the region say with the recent rains having ruined paddy and mustard crops sown by them, they have little use for fertilisers. The region was ravaged by floods in the first week of August this year. And last week it was lashed by severe rains.
Scores of farmers staged road blockades in Bhind, Morena and Gwalior recently to protest huge crunch of fertilizers .A dozen of farmers demanding supply of fertilizers, had sustained injuries after police allegedly resorted to lathi-charge in Charnal village of Shyampur tehsil in Sehore district on Thursday.
Ankit, a farmer of Andora village in Datia district, has sown sugarcane in two hectares of land. “Getting Urea has become very difficult. We have to wait in a queue for the whole day,” he said. According to him, farmers queue up before Urea outlets at 5 am and they get the fertiliser by the evening. Sometimes, they are asked to come the next day.
Urea has also become costlier. “Earlier it was priced at Rs 270 per bag. Now, it is being sold for Rs 300,” he said. Ankit also complained that DAP (Di-ammonium Phosphate) fertiliser is also in short supply.
Hemant Rawat, a farmer of Khiria Sunwai village in Narwar tehsil of Shivpuri district, said that there was an acute shortage of Urea in his area till recently. However, the situation has eased a bit over the past couple of days. He has sown mustard on his land. According to Hemant, he needs DAP fertiliser. “I will apply Urea to the crops later when the plants have grown a bit,” he said.
Farmer Damodar Rawat of the same village said that his standing wheat crops were destroyed in the floods in August. “When I have no crops, what will I do with the fertilisers,” he asks. According to him, they are facing problems even in arranging food.
The same is the situation in Sheopur, another district of the region. Insaf Qureshi from the district said that paddy (90%) and mustard (10%) were sown by the farmers on around 27,000 hectares of cultivable area in the district. “It rained heavily on October 18, destroying the sown crops,” he said. Qureshi said that there was no shortage of Urea in the district now.
