urea-shortage-in-telangana-turns-into-a-political-flashpoint

Farmers across Telangana are reeling under a crisis due to acute shortage of urea, the essential fertiliser, in the present Kharif crop season. This has triggered widespread protests across the state, with farmers blocking roads, staging demonstrations, and expressing despair over government inaction. Serpentine queues are seen in front of the offices of the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS), the urea supply points in the state.

 

The issue has snowballed into a political flashpoint between the Congress-ruled state government and the BJP-led Centre as the crisis threatens crop yields and the livelihoods of farmers across the state. The opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has also blamed the state government for its inept handling of the crisis.

 

According to the Telangana government, the state was allocated 8.30 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of urea for the Kharif season by August but had only received around 5.62 LMT. This has created a shortfall of nearly 3 LMT, severely impacting farmers.

 

The crisis is exacerbated by a record high in paddy cultivation this season, which has increased the overall demand for urea to 10.48 LMT. With the monsoon creating favourable conditions, the demand is at its peak precisely when supply is low.

 

Blame game

The state Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of politicising the issue.

 

In an open letter to farmers, the Minister wondered why the BJP leaders were hiding the fact that states like Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, which are being ruled by the saffron party, were also facing urea shortage and that farmers in those states too were staging protests.

 

“Why is Telangana alone being targeted?” he asked. The Minister attributed the urea scarcity to the Centre’s inefficiency in ensuring timely import of the fertiliser and its supply to farmers.

 

“The imported urea allocated to Telangana did not arrive due to geopolitical issues like the Russia-Ukraine war and the Iran-Israel conflict, which disrupted shipping routes in the Red Sea. This is also due to the Centre’s inefficiency in ensuring timely imports and supply to farmers. But the BJP leaders are misleading the farmers with misinformation and politicising the issue,” he said.

 

“By August, the Centre had allocated 3.94 lakh metric tonnes of imported urea to our state but supplied only 2.10 lakh metric tonnes so far,” he said.

 

“The Centre mainly allocated indigenously produced urea from RFCL (Ramagundam Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited) to the state. Of the total 1,69,325 tonnes allocated till August, the RFCL supplied only 1,06,852 tonnes, creating a shortfall of 62,473 tonnes,” he explained.

 

“Despite repeated requests from us to allocate a higher share from RFCL, the Centre gave only about 40% of its production to our state,” he added.

 

“Moreover, RFCL remained shut for 78 days from May to August, leading to further delays in supply of urea to farmers,” he said.

The minister suggested that the domestic urea production capacity be enhanced and use of eco-friendly and cost-effective Nano urea be promoted.

 

He also suggested the Centre reduce the prices of “complex fertilisers”. “While a bag of normal urea costs only `250, complex fertilisers cost over `1,500,” he said.

 

“On behalf of the state government, I regret the inconvenience caused to farmers due to delay on the part of the Centre in supplying urea,” he said.

 

Hardship to farmers

Reports from the districts suggest that farmers across the state, especially in districts like Nalgonda, are facing immense hardship. They are forced to wait in long queues, often overnight, to receive a meagre quantity of fertiliser that is insufficient for their crops. There have been reports of protests and frustration among the farming community.

 

The Chief Minister A Revanth has accused the Centre of "deliberate discrimination" against Telangana by failing to supply its sanctioned quota of urea.

 

The Ramagundam Fertiliser Corporation Ltd (RFCL), a major supplier for Telangana, has faced a shutdown, leading to a significant shortfall in its supply to the state.

 

Congress MPs from Telangana have raised the issue in Parliament and staged protests, while the Chief Minister has personally taken up the matter with Union ministers. The state has also accused the opposition of creating "artificial scarcity" and panic.

 

Union coal minister G Kishan Reddy and other BJP leaders have accused the Telangana government of mismanagement and creating an "artificial scarcity" to benefit from black marketing.

 

They argue that the Centre has supplied enough urea and that the state government's "senseless talk" about a shortage has prompted farmers to hoard fertiliser, worsening the situation. Kishan Reddy also points out that the Centre has subsidised urea at a fixed price for years, absorbing a huge burden.

 

The BRS has been critical of both the Centre and the state government. Senior BRS leader T Harish Rao has accused them of playing a "political drama" at the expense of farmers.

 

He has called on the Congress government to stop the blame game and take immediate action to ensure the timely supply of urea, warning that inaction could deepen the agrarian crisis. 

 

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