As farmers across the country are busy wrapping up kharif harvest and getting ready for rabi season, those in Karaikkal-Puducherry belt are facing a different problem.
It is not the usual fertiliser shortage, but the retail distributors trying to hard-sell micronutrient fertiliser to farmers who purchase urea. For instance, if a farmer wants to purchase 20 kg fertiliser, he’s been asked to take 16 kg fertiliser and 4 kg growth stimulator/yield booster.
“Without even knowing the nature of our soil, we are being asked to purchase growth stimulators or micro nutrients bags. This is like the kirana shops giving you a candy instead of the exact change,” R Kamalakannan, Puducherry’s Agriculture Minister, told BusinessLine.
A bag of urea costs around ₹266.
Saying that the fertiliser companies are only concerned about promoting and selling their products without even making an attempt to know the nature of the soil/land, Kamalakannan said he has written to the Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers bringing to his notice this unfair practice resorted to by the agri-input suppliers.
