No dearth of urea in Kurnool district, says Collector

Collector P. Ranjith Basha and Superintendent of Police (SP) Vikrant Patil assured the farmers that there was no dearth of urea in Kurnool district and asked them not to worry about its availability. They warned of severe action against those who hoard urea or sell it above the fixed price. The Collector also assured that the onion farmers will get ₹1,200 per quintal for their produce brought to the market yard.

The Collector and SP reviewed the availability of urea and the onion stocks in the market yard along with officials. Giving details on urea, the Collector said that there is 3,200 metric tonnes of urea stock in the district. Initially, there were problems with regard to availability of urea in some mandals and we responded and resolved them immediately, he said, adding that all the farmers were supplied urea till now.

Mr. Ranjith Basha announced that 2,600 metric tonnes of urea would arrive in the district in the next two days. On the occasion, the Collector appealed to the farmers not to use excess urea or nano urea to cultivate their crops. He also urged the farmers not to take urea for both kharif and rabi crops at once and assured that the urea stocks for the rabi season would arrive and will be supplied to them.

With regard to law enforcement, he said that five cases had been registered for diversion of urea, while 13 were registered for other violations, suspension of licences of three traders, and issuance of show cause notices to four traders. Similarly, 402 metric tonnes of urea worth ₹1.05 lakh had been seized. He said that 70 per cent of urea stocks are distributed by the government through Rythu Seva Kendras (RSKs) and PACS, while only 30 per cent was through private dealers.

Meanwhile, SP Vikrant Patil said that five criminal cases had been registered against traders for selling urea above maximum retail price (MRP) and illegal supply to Karnataka and Telangana. He said that checks are being conducted at all border checkposts with Police, Excise, Vigilance, and Agriculture Department officials. “We are also conducting surprise checks along with Vigilance Department officials,” he said.

Regarding onion cultivation, the Collector said that the crop was cultivated in nearly 31,000 acres and a yield of 1.50 lakh metric tonnes is being expected. Nearly 11,174 metric tonnes of onion has been procured through MARKFED, and market yards and the government will purchase the yield at ₹1,200 per quintal. Sale of onion is also being done through a tender process and if any trader is offering less than ₹12 per kg, the government will provide the remaining amount directly to the farmer, he said.