The Punjab needs 14.50 lakh tonnes of urea, but only about 75,000 tonnes are available. (Representative)
Chandigarh:
The suspension of freight trains in the Punjab has caused a severe shortage of urea for wheat and vegetable crops in the Punjab, with state officials saying rabi seedlings would likely be affected as a result.
Farmers need urea, a key fertilizer for rabi crops, and DAP (diammonium phosphate) for planting wheat and other vegetable crops like potatoes, an official from the National Department of Agriculture said. Agriculture.
“There is a urea shortage in the state,” another senior department official said on Sunday.
Officials say the Punjab needs 14.50 lakh tonnes of urea for the rabi season, but only around 75,000 tonnes are available in the state.
They said 4 lakh tonnes of urea was supposed to arrive in October, but only 1 lakh tonnes was received.
For November, the state has an allocation of 4 lakh tonnes of urea. The wheat planting season will begin in November. It should be grown on an area of around 35 lakh in the state during the rabi season.
“Urea is basically needed when the wheat is first irrigated in the first week of December,” said one of the officials, adding that around 6.45 lakh tonnes of urea is needed for the one alone. December. It is also needed for potatoes and other vegetable crops, officials said.
Urea arrives by trucks from Ambala and Dabwali, but this dramatically increases transport costs, they added.
“Crop yield will be affected if an adequate dose of urea is not administered to the crops,” they said.
Punjab is supplied with urea by trains from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and other states.
The railways have suspended freight train services in the Punjab following the blockade of some rail lines by farmers protesting against the centre’s new agricultural laws.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had requested assurances from the Punjabi government for the safety of trains and crew members to restore freight services, after Chief Minister Amarinder Singh asked him to intervene to resume services.
Freight train services had resumed earlier in the state after farmers’ unions announced on Oct. 21 to exempt them from their weeks-old turmoil over Central’s new farm laws.
However, the railways later suspended freight train operations, claiming protesting farmers were still blocking the tracks.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
