'No shortage of fertilisers, urea in Mandya dist'

There is no shortage of fertilisers, including urea in Mandya district. Around 10,000 tonne of urea, manufactured by various companies will be supplied to the farmers in Mandya district from September 24 to 29. Hence, there is no need for anxiety among farmers, said B S Chandrashekar, Joint Director (JD), Agriculture department.

Addressing media persons here, on Tuesday, he said, "There is a demand for 43,650 tonne of urea in Mandya district and 35,838 tonne is already supplied. The remaining would be supplied by the end of the month."

The consignment of fertilisers is delayed due to heavy rain in North Karnataka, Mumbai, Pune and Mangaluru. Around 2,280 tonne is available with Primary Agriculture Credit Society (PACS), shops and federations. Each bag of urea is sold at Rs 266 and is supplied on production of Aadhaar card number of the farmer. If it is sold at extra cost, the farmers can immediately complain to the officials at nearby farmer contact centre, he said.

The JD advised the farmers to minimise the use of urea. "Heavy use of urea will affect the quality of soil. The silica content in paddy will be lost and the crop turns vulnerable to pest attack," he explained.

Mandya is in the second place in crop survey, in the state, after Tumakuru district. However, around 6,81,604 plots are yet to surveyed, he said.