Farmers Movement Archive

Punjab: No rail supply, farmers face urea crunch

PATIALA: With freight trains not operating, Punjab farmers may face a shortage of urea for wheat crop in December. As per officials of the state agriculture department, Punjab has around 2 lakh metric tonnes of urea available, against the demand of 11 LMT. The state is facing a shortage of urea since the halt of goods trains due to blockade of rail tracks by farmers against the three new farm laws and later due to stoppage of goods trains by the central government despite rail tracks being cleared by farmers. Usually, around 4 LMT of urea reaches Punjab via ral in September, 4 LMT in November, and 3 LMT in December. Punjab chief inspector (fertilizers) G S Brar said farmers may not be able to get a complete supply even if goods trains start immediately. Farmers need urea in the first week of December and up till December last. “We have 1 LMT of urea in the stock.Another 1 LMT is supplied from fertilizer plants at Nangal and Bathinda for emergency needs. The demand for urea is more than 10.3 LMT in Punjab,” Brar said. BKU (Ekta Sidhupur) president Jagjit Singh Dallewal said the central government had turned vindictive and wanted to suppress farmers. “The state government should get the supply by transporting urea in trucks from neighbouring states, where trains are operational,” he said.

The Times of India

2020-11-11

Chandigarh