The district is facing acute shortage of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser with farmers wandering from pillar to post to avail it for the kharif operations. The shortage has also resulted in blackmarketing of the chemical fertliser by the greedy dealers. Farmers are buying DAP at whatever cost available to them.

Though the maximum retail price of 50 kg bag of DAP is Rs 486.20, it is seldom sold at the MRP.  Shivalingappa, a farmer from Farahatabad said, he had to buy DAP at Rs 600 per bag otherwise he would not get the fertiliser at all. There is no official explanation whatsoever for the sudden shortage of fertiliser in the market.

Gulbarga is one of he largest fertiliser consuming districts in the country for it being the agriculturally intensive district. With the south west monsoon proving very friendly this time the hopes of farmers have been revived. However, shortage of DAP has dampened their spirit.

In the wake of lot of complaints of shortage and its sale at higher prices in the market the agriculture department officials have stepped up their inspections and checkings of licensed fertiliser shops in the city and at other places.

Joint Director of Agriculture Thippeswamaiah and his staff during their inspection of fertiliser shops in the city found Bakkam Prabhu Agro Centre selling DAP fertiliser at higher prices.

A farmer was sent to the shop for buying 10 bags of DAP and the dealer charged Rs 500 per bag as against the MRP of Rs 486.20. On the complaint of agriculture officials the police have registered a case against the dealer.

The JDA has said further action including cancellation of license and seizure of the stock will be initiated against the dealer as per the provisions of the Fertiliser Control Order.

The Joint Director has asked all the fertiliser dealers to be fair in their transactions, not to create artificial shortage of fertiliser and not to sell above MRP. If any one was found violating pricing norms they will be punished severely, he warned.

The farmers have been asked to buy fertiliser against due receipt only and they can buy DAP of any brand, he said.

If they don’t get DAP they need not wait for DAP and should buy any complex fertiliser, he added.

The department has asked farmers to retain receipt and contact the assistant director of Agriculture in taluks in case of any difficulty they came across.