Angry farmers block road over DAP shortage in Hisar
Even as the sowing of rabi is at its peak, farmers in Haryana have been struggling to get DAP fertiliser, which is one of the main inputs for wheat crop.
As the shortage continues in the district, farmers today blocked a road in front of the grain market in Hisar town. They alleged that they had been making rounds of the grain market from far-off villages for the last several days, but they got just one reply that "the stock isn't available" at the office of the Hisar Cooperative Marketing Society.
Sanjay, a farmer from Mirzapur village, said he came to Hisar at 4 am, but now he and other farmers had been told that there was no stock available.”The fields are ready for sowing and the soil would get harder if we delay the sowing. But we have no option but to keep waiting,” he said.
Another farmer, Subhash, from Mirzapur who plans to sow 25 acres of rabi crops, said more delay in DAP and subsequent delay in the sowing would adversely impact the production. Agriculture experts said the sowing of wheat must be done by November 14 for good produce. “If we delay beyond November 14, the more the delay, the lesser the production,” said Rajender from Mangali village.
According to the Agriculture Department, there is a demand of 25,000 MT of DAP in Hisar district, but till now about 50 per cent of it (12,573 MT) has arrived in the district. With just four days left for sowing of the crop in ideal conditions, it is unlikely that we would get the required amount of DAP, complained Rajender, another farmer.
