Demand up for fertilisers, seeds

Demand for seeds and fertilisers in Telangana has shot up phenomenally even before the monsoon has set in and kharif season has commenced, thanks to Rythu Bandhu Scheme.

Lakhs of farmers who encashed the `4,000 per acre cheques they received from the government are thronging shops to purchase fertilisers and seeds. Considering the demand, the agriculture department has already sent 2.5 lakh quintals of seeds to districts.

The demand for seeds in kharif this year is estimated to be 7 lakh tonnes, the highest ever. “We have procured enough stocks for kharif to meet the demand. There is no question a shortage of fertilisers and seeds going to happen. We request farmers not to believe in such rumours and resort to panic buying,” said C. Parthasarathi, secretary of the agriculture department.

With the Centre making biometric system (e-PoS) mandatory for sale of fertilisers from this year, the state government has alerted agriculture officials in all districts to ensure the new system does not trouble farmers.

This is because, out of over 3,000 fertiliser shops in TS, nearly 2,800 have set up e-PoS machines so far and there is still a backlog of 200 shops.

Even in shops where e-PoS machines are installed, they are not working properly due to lack of mobile communication signals. The Aadhaar biometrics of farmers have been linked with these e-PoS machines.