Lucknow, Dec 26 (IANS): The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has warned of strict action against those engaged in hoarding of fertilizers during the ongoing Rabi crop season.
Additional chief secretary Devesh Chaturvedi, in a stern circular sent to all district magistrates recently, said that action may be initiated under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and non-carbonic, carbonic (control) order, in case a supplier sells the fertilizer at a price higher than the notified cost.
The administrative authorities have also been directed to ensure no commodity is tagged to be sold along with the fertilizer.
Chaturvedi said that the officials have been categorically asked to see that adequate fertilizer is available, not only with retailers and whole-sellers but also with buffer stockists.
“The wholesalers should be kept under keen watch to arrest the chances of hoarding that could create any sort of shortage,” he said. The department has also decided to keep a tab on selling of fertilizer through a portal.
The development comes amid a significant rise in urea by farmers for “dressing” their crops like wheat, sugarcane and potato.
Official sources in the agriculture department said that the demand for urea tends to grow by almost twice between December 20 and January 15.
At present, the demand has already risen to around 43,000 MT per day.
Joint director (fertilizer) AK Pathak said that this is time when farmers tend to top up the soil with urea. “And this demands a smooth supply of the fertilizer from the seller,” he said.
Experts said that the farmers also go in for second top dressing of soil to step up the productivity.
For this, the farmers use ‘nano-Urea’ -- 500 ml of it is used to spray over an area of around 1 acre.
Officials said that the state government has also started promoting the use of drones to conduct the spray of nano-Urea for the purpose.
The department has asked the authorities to ensure that the farmers are provided fertilizers after assessing the nature of crops and their productivity.