UP Agri Minister Urges Railway Minister to Cut Station Delays to Ensure Timely Urea Supply

According to the state minister, transportation of DAP fertiliser and urea takes 8-10 days from port to station, and there are many stations where the supply of urea is halted due to restrictions. On Wednesday, Surya Pratap Shahi met with Railway Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw.

The Union Minister has also promised to reduce the time it takes for urea fertiliser to reach its destination. According to Surya Pratap Shahi, Uttar Pradesh is an agricultural state with 140 lakh hectares of rabi crops and 26 lakh hectares of sugarcane, both of which use urea. Following a meeting with the Railway Minister, a request was made in this context.

The state is in the process of sowing all of the crops for the rabi season. Rabi crop planting is a time-consuming process, so phosphatic fertilisers are in high demand in the state right now. Railways play an important role in ensuring the timely delivery of fertiliser. Farmers in many districts of the state are having difficulty getting DAP fertiliser easily available at the time of crop sowing due to a slow supply of DAP fertiliser in the rabi months of October and November this year, according to the minister.

The fertiliser manufacturing/supplier companies informed the government that supply is slow due to a lack of rakes from Eastern Port, Keenada, Krishnapatnam, Gangavaram, Y Jack, and Paradip. Only 82,143 mt of the 149,800 mt DAP fertiliser allocation from the above Eastern Port in November could be supplied until November 27, 2022, with 67657 mt remaining for supply.

Rakes dispatched from the IFFCO and PPL plants in Paradip and Eastport can reach their destination in 8-10 days. Currently, 25 to 30 fertiliser rakes are in transit on a daily basis. According to the minister, it is critical that they be transported quickly and safely to their destination.

Only by making 3-4 rakes available daily from IFFCO's Kandla and Paradip plants, the cooperative sector's main supplier organisation, can DAP fertiliser be made available to cooperatives on a continuous basis. The Union Minister has also promised to reduce the time it takes for urea fertiliser to reach its destination.

He requested that the Union Minister make available 10-12 racks per day for the supply of DAP fertiliser in Uttar Pradesh based on demand, and at the very least stabilise the fertiliser racks and direct the concerned to arrive at the destination quickly so that DAP fertiliser is easily available to farmers during the sowing of rabi crops as required.