The demand was made at the Northeast zonal conference on Agricultural Inputs for Kharif, 2011, organised by the Union ministry of agriculture, department of agriculture and cooperation in collaboration with the department of agriculture of the state government.
State agriculture joint director (administration and accounts) in-charge of fertilisers, L. Marbaniang, said Meghalaya requires 3,900 tonnes of urea, 2,500 of DAP, 2,200 tonnes of SSP and 260 tonnes of MOP for the kharif season.
Marbaniang also said fertilisers lifted by the state during the rabi season included 3,068 tonnes of urea, 1,528 tonnes of DAP, 2,024 tonnes of SSP and 72 tonnes of DOP.
However, as farmers of the state are cultivating rabi crops upto March, the state sought additional fertilisers of 500 metric tonnes for the rabi season. This included 400 metric tonnes of DAP and 100 metric tonnes of urea.
Union agriculture director movements and in-charge of fertilisers, Deepak Kumar, said the Northeast required about 3 lakh tonnes of fertilisers annually.
Kumar had also asked the law enforcement agencies of all state governments in the Northeast to devise mechanisms to put an end to the smuggling of fertilisers from India to neighbouring countries via land and sea routes.
“According to inputs received from agencies, there is widespread smuggling of fertilisers in the region. Hence, we have instructed the law enforcement agencies of state governments to form a vigilance committee to check the menace,” Kumar had said.
According to the state agriculture department, though 81 per cent of the state’s population depended on agriculture, the net cropped area was only about 9.87 per cent of the total geographical area.
The state is facing an annual deficit in foodgrains by 1.22 lakh tonnes to feed a population of about 2.3 million. The problems highlighted by the department include hostile topography, poor transport and communication, population dispersal pattern, inadequate credit support and poor marketing system.
The department also said practising of improved and modern methods of agriculture by farmers, using chemical fertilisers, plant protection measures and introduction of high yielding variety seeds had contributed to increase in production of foodgrains.
Top