Hike in fertiliser prices puts farmers in a spot

Lack of govt. subsidy schemes add to their woes

Farmers across the State who are grappling with the dwindling crop yield and price fall of agriculture produce have called upon Union and State governments to do something immediately to arrest the increasing market prices of fertilisers and chemicals. Leaders of major farmers’ organisations say the increasing farm input cost subsequent to the fertiliser price hike will take the ailing agriculture sector to a serious crisis. “NPK, one of the essential nutrient mixes and the most sought-after fertiliser product comprising nitrogen phosphorus and potassium, costs ₹35,500 a tonne. It was just ₹24,000 till very recently,” says Johnson Kulathingal, general secretary of Kerala Karshaka Union in the State. He points out that the prices of di-ammonium phosphate and other phosphorus-based fertilisers have also gone up in a similar way. The biggest crisis faced by small and medium farmers is the absence of beneficial subsidy schemes for them to beat the price fluctuations. Only a small section of farmers who are part of special agriculture schemes in select panchayats are now getting government support to buy fertilisers at subsidised rate. In effect, the hike in market price will affect the majority of ordinary farmers who are out of such special schemes.