The Centre on Friday assured Karnataka that it would take immediate steps to transport 25,000 metric tonne of fertiliser to the State by this month-end.Fertilisers and Chemicals Minister Ramvilas Paswan gave this assurance to Karnataka Agriculture Minister Bandeppa Kashempur. He said five railway rakes were already dispatched to the State while five more would be sent shortly, mainly from Visakhapatnam.
Mr Kashempur had appealed to the Centre to allocate 45,000 mt of fertiliser on warfooting to meet the shortfall of 1.2 lakh tonnes in the State.
The State minister told  Mr Paswan that the need to immediately address the problem was paramount as there was fear that traders would use the opportunity to jack up prices.
Karnataka has estimated the di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) demand at 3.8 lakh tonne (LT) for this season while the Government of India stipulation was about 3.1 LT leaving a shortfall of 70,000 tonne.
The State was negotiating with M/s Mosaic India private limited for the supply of 30,000 tonne but this may take some time, he said.
The requirement of urea for Karnataka was 7.8 LT but the supply so far was 1.2 LT while the supply of DAP was 97,000 tonne as against a requirement of 3.8 LT. Mr Kashempur said sowing has already taken place in 7 lakh hectare in the State out of the about 74 LH. Because of paucity of rainfall, Karnataka suffered a shortfall of 20 per cent in foodgrain production and ended up producing 85 lakh metric tonne last year.
Karnataka, he said, has been selected as one of the three pilot states for introduction of the Mausam Muskan (weather/crop insurance).
Under the scheme where 25 per cent of the premium was paid by the farmer and rest 75 per cent shared equally by the Centre and the State, claims would be settled within 45 days. The same farmer, would, however, be eligible for the general crop insurance which is available throughout the State.