The All Manipur Progressive Farmers’ Association (AMPFA) has demanded the state government to discuss the matter of fertiliser shortage in the upcoming state assembly session which is set to begin from July 25.
AMPFA stated in a release issued on Saturday that urea crisis occurs every year. Agriculture is the main occupation of the state and the government should deal with the urea crisis seriously and meticulously, it stated.
The association stated that the monsoon session of the assembly is to begin from July 25 and the ministers, MLAs should discuss this issue on the floor of the house to prevent any kind of unwanted incident that may be invited by this crisis in the future.
The state government has been procuring urea fertilizers based on the size of agricultural land stood by settlement.
However, many agricultural lands have been shrinking with the construction of schools, brick fields, fish farms and other establishments. Yet, procurement of urea has been increasing each year. On the contrary, the urea crisis is heightening each year. The state government should take this imbalance seriously, the AMPFA said.
It also demanded to discuss the survey for arable land, procurement of urea based on present arable size of the state, alternative means to replace urea as its excessive usage is hazardous to health, issuance of identity card for tenant farmer and farmer who don’t have land, distribute urea with proper norm, to earmark budget to form Agricultural Produce and Livestock Market Committee in upcoming monsoon session.
