Agriculture minister blames Centre for fertiliser shortage in state

Bengaluru: Appealing to BJP and JD(S) lawmakers not to politicise issues concerning the welfare of farmers such as shortage of fertilisers, Karnataka Minister for Agriculture N Chaluvarayaswamy on Tuesday blamed the Centre for the crisis in the state.

Pointing to the delay on the part of the central government in releasing the state’s share of fertilisers for the months of July and August, Chaluvarayaswamy, participating in a heated debate in the Council on the issue, said, “Everything was running smoothly till the opposition parties resorted to a protest over this issue, and blew it up.”

The minister informed the Council that the shortfall in fertiliser stock in the state for the months of July and August stood at 2.85 lakh metric tonnes.