Rangareddy: The ongoing torrential rains across the Rangareddy district comes as a double whammy for the farmers who are already struggling to find sufficient amounts of Urea these days due to the shortage of fertilizer that is considered essential for raising the season based crops.

Although the officials are telling that there is no supply gap of Urea in the district and the prevailing situation is more synthetic that the reality, the farmers in different mandals are found clamoring for clarity over not getting an adequate amount of the green booster.

“We are forced to spend more time in queues to get the required amount of fertilizer than working on the fields to take up agrarian activities while the season is on its peak,” rued Krishnaiah, a farmer from Chevella who is unhappy over the way the scarcity of fertilizer was created in the markets these days, that too at the peak time of necessity.

“Atleast 2.5 bags of Urea is needed for an acre of crop. I have a paddy field spreads in 10 acres of land that requires at least 25 bags of fertilizer to feed the standing crop. However, I was told to get only 10 bags of Urea which is insufficient to raise the crops,” he maintained.

“Black marketers too are exploiting the situation by selling the fertilizer at extra prices,” said Jaffar, another farmer, adding that the subsidized price of a Urea bag is Rs. 270 per sack. However, it is being sold for Rs. 320-350 in black market.”

However, the officials of the department of Agriculture attributed all developments to hysteria among farmers created out of reports from different media platforms.

In fact, the officials are claiming that the supply of Urea has increased time season compared to the last leg.

“A total number of 18,600 metric tons Urea has been supplied upto August 14, in the district this Kharif season as against 14,800 metric tons recorded last year during the same period. This makes a 30 percent increase in fertilizer supply in the district,” an official claimed. The season, he further said, will continue till September and what we are getting right now is enough to ensure adequate supply to the farmers.

“The farmers are found stocking extra fertilizer out of a hysteria created among them from recently developed reports from different platforms,” the official maintained.

According to officials from the Department of Agriculture, there are around 2.64 lakh farmers spread across the 27 mandals of the Rangareddy and forms an ‘agrarian community’ that is involved in growing crops like Paddy, Cotton and Maize in all the 27 mandals of the district. “An approximate area of 4.30-4.50 acres is being used for cultivation especially during the kharif season in the district. Paddy, Cotton and Maize are the primary crops especially grown in Amangal, Chevella, Shadnagar and Maheshwaram divisions,” the official informed.