Jaipur: The problems of Rajasthan farmers never end. Most of the time they face scarcity of rain but this time good rains have resulted in increased sowing and now they are facing a shortage of fertilizers.
The Rabi sowing has increased by 15 lakh hectares as compared to last year but the supply of Urea and DAP is not adequate. The state government is accusing the centre of the short supply of fertilizers and one can see long queues outside the fertilizer distribution centres in rural areas these days.
Drought is a regular feature for Rajasthan but this year the state was blessed with more than average rainfall. The state received 628.32 mm of rainfall this year which is 19.1 per cent more than the average annual rainfall of the state. As per the data of the Water Resources Department of the state, 18 out of 33 districts of the state received excess to abnormal rainfall during this year’s monsoon and the rains continued in the state till October.
The good rains have resulted in increased Rabi season sowing. As per the official data, Rabi sowing has increased by 15 lakh hectares in the state as compared to last year. There has been an increase of about 103 per cent in the sowing of wheat, 87 in barley, 16 in mustard and taramira, 27 in gram and about 56 per cent in other crops as compared to last year.
Due to the increased sowing, the demand for fertilizers, especially urea, has increased across the state but the supply is not adequate. Minimum of 8 rakes are required per day in the state but 3-4 rakes are being supplied daily.
In a recently held review meeting, Principal Secretary to Government Dinesh Kumar said that the central government had approved the demand for 14.50 lakh metric tonnes of urea and 4.50 lakh metric tonnes of DAP for the Rabi 2022-23 (October to March) season.
But In October, the Ministry of Fertilizers supplied 2.89 lakh metric tonnes of Urea against 4.50 lakh metric tonnes and 1.65 lakh metric tonnes of DAP against 2 lakh metric tonnes. Thus there has been a short supply of 1.61 lakh metric tonnes of urea and 35 thousand metric tonnes of DAP. Similarly, in this month, only 1.57 lakh metric tonnes of urea and 50 thousand metric tonnes of DAP have been supplied.
Agriculture Minister Lalchand Kataria said that this year the demand for fertilizers for Rabi crops is high but we are facing the problem of short supply from the central government.
While Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot directed the officials to ensure an uninterrupted supply of fertilizers in the state by continuously coordinating with the Central Government.
