BhubaneswarAugust 30, 2025 12:14 PM IST
First published on: Aug 30, 2025 at 12:10 PM IST
Amid reports of urea shortage, former chief minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief Naveen Patnaik Saturday urged the central government’s intervention.
In a letter to Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers JP Nadda, Odisha’s Leader of Opposition Patnaik that the shortage could disrupt agricultural production in the peak Kharif season.
“Short supply of urea along with its black marketing and adulteration is a major concern for our farmers, now in the start of the Kharif season. In many districts, particularly in tribal districts, the farmers are on an agitation path due to non-availability of urea. If not addressed timely, it may cause serious disruption of farm activities which will impact production and also affect the livelihood of farmers,” Patnaik said.
He also accused MARKFED — the government’s designated distribution agency – of supplying subsidised fertilisers to private traders instead of farmers.
“Despite lower fertiliser use in Odisha, supply chain mismanagement and corruption have pushed our farmers to the edge,” Patnaik, demanding immediate crackdown on black marketing.
Meanwhile, reports of urea scarcity and black-marketing continue to trickle in from the western and southern parts of Odisha — including the major agrarian districts of Sundargarh, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri, Sonepur, Sambalpur and Bargarh.
State-run cooperatives continue to see long queues, with reports of farmers holding protests in many parts. In Koraput, farmers claim the shortage has forced farmers to turn to the open market, driving up fertilizer prices.
However, Akshaya Kumar, convenor of the farmers’ outfit Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan, claimed that it’s not shortage of fertilizers but hoarding and black-marketing that has led to the crisis.
“There is a nexus between some corrupt officials and unscrupulous traders that led to adulteration and black marketing of fertilizers. The fertilizers are being sold at a higher price than the government-approved rate in many districts. Farmers are in crisis,” Kumar told The Indian Express.
Odisha needs around 6-7 lakh tonnes of fertilizers during the June-September period, when Kharif farming is at its peak. Amid a growing crisis, Odisha’s Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo has said that the state government has “zero-tolerance” for those selling adulterated fertilizers.