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Sufficient field stock of fertilizers available in all the States, says Sadananda Gowda
New Delhi: “There is sufficient field stock of fertilizers available in all the States, which is adequate to address any emergent issue”, said Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers, Statistics & Programme Implementation, D.V. Sadananda Gowda, in a statement here on 5th December.
Gowda said that the Department of Fertilizers (DoF) is in regular touch with State Governments and suppliers of fertilizers. In view of the ensuing Rabi season, monitoring is being done on regular and daily basis to ensure adequate availability across the country. In the weekly video conference, jointly organized by Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW), DoF and Railways on 4th December, all the States have reported adequate availability of all fertilizers, the Minister added.
Gowda said that there is day-to-day coordination with Railways for movement of fertilizers across the country. Both the departments (DoF & Railways) are working in coherence to ensure timely availability of all fertilizers across the country. During Kharif ’18 season, due to concerted efforts of Railways and DoF, more than 250 additional rakes were made available for fertilizers as compared to Kharif’17 season, the Minister added.
For Rabi’18-19, the requirement of urea is estimated at 155.84 LMT. The entire quantity required for the current rabi season, especially during peak consumption months of December’18 and January’19, is expected to be met by domestic production of about 129 LMT and remaining through imports. Further, the production of Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) fertilizers is also going on in the country and importers are importing P&K under Open General License (OGL) to fulfill the field requirement.
The fertilizer supplies are made as per monthly supply plan, prepared in consultation with the suppliers before the start of each month that fulfils the monthly projected requirement of each State. The suppliers and States have been advised by the DoF to supply and lift respectively the full quantity against the supply plan of December’18. Once the fertilizers are received in the States, the internal distribution within the state is the responsibility of State Government, Gowda informed.
