Farmers loyal to the Bharatiya Kisan Union protested on Monday in Hansi, near Hisar, over reported insufficient supplies of di-ammonium phosphate fertilizer, while farmers queued for hours in a few Haryana districts.
Farmers demonstrated in Hansi, with one protester going on a long fast due to alleged DAP scarcity.
“DAP is in scarce supply. Our protest will continue like this if enough supply is not supplied as soon as possible,” a protesting farmer told reporters in Hansi. Farmers had to queue for hours every day in front of cooperative societies’ offices and private dealer shops to acquire DAP fertilizer owing to a “shortage” during Rabi season, he claimed.
On Monday, large lines formed in Charkhi Dadri and Shahabad in Kurukshetra as farmers waited for hours to obtain fertilizers. Farmers reportedly stopped a road on the Mahendergarh-Rewari route for a short time to protest the fertilizer’s lack of availability.
A few days ago, several farmers allegedly forcibly removed over 100 bags of DAP fertilizers from outside a private dealer’s business in Mahendergarh district’s Ateli town. Farmers are allegedly fleeing from pillar to post because of a DAP scarcity, according to opposition parties.
The fertilizer was being supplied to farmers from police stations in a few areas, including Charkhi, Dadri, under heavy police supervision. There is no scarcity of fertilizer, according to the state administration.
Haryana Agriculture Minister J P Dalal declared last week that the state has no scarcity of DAP fertilizer and that black marketeers are attempting to create a false shortage. On Sunday, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar convened a meeting to assess DAP supply and demand.
Despite the fact that the amount of DAP fertilizer available in the market this year is 1,100 metric tons more than last year, Khattar said he spoke to Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya over the phone on Sunday and requested six additional (train) rakes of fertilizers, which the Centre agreed to, according to an official statement.