Farmers line up overnight as fertiliser shortage hits Kharif season in Telangana

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy met Union Minister J.P. Nadda in Delhi to highlight the shortage and request additional supply, however, no additional supplies have been received so far.

Hyderabad: Farmers in several districts of Telangana are facing difficulties in accessing urea for the ongoing Kharif season. In Bheemini, in Mancherial district, farmers gathered at the local Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society for three days, requesting the timely supply of urea. When the society failed to meet its needs, they staged a protest and demanded intervention from officials.

Following the protest, the society temporarily halted distribution of the remaining stock. Farmers alleged that private traders had sufficient urea and were selling it on the black market. Agriculture officials responded by assuring strict action against any trader found selling urea illegally.

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The society, which serves farmers in Bheemini and Kannepalli mandals, had distributed 780 bags so far but needed twice that amount.

In Mahabubabad district’s Kothaguda mandal, hundreds of farmers lined up at the Pogillapalli cooperative society from as early as midnight on Sunday. The streets were filled with tractors as farmers waited to collect their allotments.

After a long wait, the society received 888 bags, while the demand was four times higher. The society rationed the supply, providing just two bags per farmer, which was not enough even for a single acre.

Some farmers turned to private traders, where urea was priced at Rs 450 per bag. In some cases, traders linked urea supply with the purchase of pesticides of equal value. Farmers noted that such conditions were not absent during the previous BRS regime.

In Jogulamba Gadwal district, officials claimed that 13,126 metric tonnes of urea were available against a requirement of 13,092 metric tonnes. However, farmers still reported difficulties in accessing the fertiliser. The Kharif activity in the region has slowed due to below-normal rainfall.

Statewide, Telangana received 3.07 lakh metric tonnes of urea between April and June, despite a requirement of 5 lakh metric tonnes. For July, the state requested 63,000 metric tonnes of domestic urea and 97,000 metric tonnes of imported urea.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy met Union Minister J.P. Nadda in Delhi to highlight the shortage and request additional supply, however, no additional supplies have been received so far.

Union Minister Nadda expressed concern over the rising use of urea in Telangana, which saw a 21% increase during the Rabi season and a 12.4% rise in the current Kharif season. He urged the state to ensure fair distribution and prevent diversion for non-agricultural use.

Districts with irrigated areas like Nalgonda, Khammam, and Warangal are seeing higher demand due to rice cultivation. Water releases from major irrigation projects such as Nagarjuna Sagar Left Canal, Devadula, Sitaram, Nettempadu, Kalwakurthy and Jurala are expected to further increase urea requirements in the coming weeks.