Sukhmeet Bhasin
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, October 23
Sensing shortage ahead of wheat-sowing season, farmers in the region have started buying DAP from cooperative societies and traders in whatever quantity they are getting their hands on.
They said since DAP had to be sprinkled at the time of sowing of rabi crops, any delay in its supply could have adverse effect on sowing of crops.
It’s a Govt ploy
Wheat sowing will start in November. The government and private companies are deliberately creating panic so that farmers buy it from private firms at higher prices. —Shingara Singh Mann, A farmer leader
As per urvarak portal of the Department of Fertilizers, season requirement of DAP in Bathinda is 37,905 MT, while just 3,938 MT is the POS sales to date. In Mansa, season requirement is 24,180 MT, while 2,362 MT is the POS sale till Friday. However, apparent shortage of the fertiliser reportedly due to less import in the wake of spurt in global prices has triggered panic among farmers. Alleging artificial crisis, farmers say rumours of shortage are leading to stocking and panic buying in Bathinda and Mansa.
Shingara Singh Mann, a farmer leader, said the government’s decision to reduce DAP limit for cooperative societies from 80% to 50% was also a “ploy” by the Centre to end cooperative societies in the state and hand over their control to private players.
Rumours trigger DAP hoarding, panic buying in Bathinda, Mansa
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