Additional fertilizers sought for buffer stock
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, August 09 2025: The Agriculture Department has requested the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers to allocate additional fertilizers to maintain a buffer stock, beyond the 11,000 MT of urea fertilizers already allocated to the State for the Kharif season.

Speaking to The Sangai Express, Assistant Fertilizer Officer (AFO) Loitongbam Sanatomba said that they have begun working on maintaining a buffer stock of fertilizers for the Rabi season to ensure farmers have access to adequate supplies under the supervision of their Director Peter Salam.

Saying that the department has distributed fertilizers to farmers in three phases for Kharif crops through the District Agricultural Officers (DAOs) concerned, he added that phase 4 is currently underway.

He added that the department has allocated 4,000 bags each to the DAOs of the valley districts and 1,000 bags each to the DAOs of the hill districts for distribution to farmers under their jurisdiction under phase 4 of the fertilizer distribution drive.

Apart from distributing the fertilizers through the DAOs, the department had held a special drive from June 16 to 25 in association with different civil society organisations and distributed over one lakh bags of urea fertilizers, Sanatomba said.

He also said that the department conducted a similar drive from July 17 to 31 and distributed fertilizers to farmers in peripheral areas.

The AFO explained that the fertilizers procured from Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Limited in Assam are transported to the State by authorized dealers of the Agriculture Department and recognized private dealers.

Stating that the department has already lifted 58,600 bags of urea fertilizers (one rake) and is currently working to lift an additional 29,300 bags, he mentioned that the department utilized the buffer stock of 1.32 lakh fertilizer bags from the previous year to supply farmers this year.

He further stated that approximately 30 private dealers, recognized by the Government, are also involved in bringing urea fertilizers to the State.

These private dealers brought 87,900 bags of urea fertilizers in three months -May, June and July, the AFO said.

He mentioned that the Government allocated 11,000 MT of urea fertilizers (approximately 2.50 lakh bags) for Kharif crops, and so far, around 1,76,000 bags have been lifted.

Saying that the State sought 18,000 MT of fertilizers for Kharif crops, he added that the department is seeking additional fertilizers from the Centre to maintain a buffer stock.

Meanwhile, a reliable source said that the Agriculture Department is taking measures to prevent urea fertilizers from falling into the hands of poppy cultivators.

He added that the Department is also monitoring the locations where dealers are stocking the fertilizers and the quantity of fertilizers they have lifted.

It may be mentioned that the Government had recently cancelled the registration of a dealer called M/S Karan Agency for misusing allocated fertilizers.

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