Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A persistent shortage of fertilisers in Madhya Pradesh has sparked anger among farmers, who allege that the failure to upload allocation details in the public domain is fuelling black-marketing and hoarding.
Despite the government’s digitisation of the fertiliser distribution system, farmers claim they are left in the dark about how much stock has been allocated to them individually. “Five years ago, this data was available publicly, but that transparency has vanished,” said Rahul Dhoot, general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh. “Now, farmers don’t know what’s allotted in their name. This has opened the door to black-marketing.”
Several districts, including Barwani, Khandwa, Shivpuri, Ashoknagar, Burhanpur, Khargone, Narmadapuram and Vidisha, are reportedly witnessing long queues and shortages at cooperative outlets, even as fertiliser is freely available in the open market at inflated prices.
Madhya Pradesh has set a target of distributing over 36 lakh metric tonnes of fertiliser for the ongoing Kharif season, including 17.40 lakh MT of urea, 5 lakh MT of DAP, 6.5 lakh MT of SSP, 5,000 MT of MOP and 86,000 MT of NPK. However, so far the state has received only 10 lakh MT of urea and 3 lakh MT of DAP, according to MP State Cooperative Marketing Federation (Markfed).
Markfed general manager B.S. Khedkar said the shortage is largely due to farmers hoarding stock for the upcoming Rabi season, combined with a rise in the area under maize cultivation during Kharif.
Farmer leader Kedar Sirohi dismissed these explanations, calling it a systemic failure. “If there is a shortage, why is fertiliser being sold openly at higher rates? There’s no transparency in the distribution process,” he said.
The agriculture department has suggested that farmers consider using Single Super Phosphate (SSP) as a viable alternative to Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP), but many remain hesitant to make the switch.
As the sowing season progresses, farmer organisations are demanding immediate corrective action and restoration of transparency in allocation data to curb hoarding and black-marketing.
Farmers in distress
Fertiliser allotments to farmers not visible online despite system digitisation
MP received 10L MT of urea (out of 17L MT) and 3L MT of DAP (out of 5L MT) so far, saysMarkfed
Farmers blame hoarding, poor distribution and demand-supply mismatch
SSP suggested as alternative to DAP, but adoption remains low.
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