Maharashtra farmers squeezed by fertiliser scarcity, rising input costs
With global supply chains still strained, Indian farmers are bearing the brunt of cascading input-cost pressures.
That bag of urea, once 50 kg, now weighs 40 kg. (File photo) When Shriram Kadam walked into a fertiliser shop near his farm in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar recently, he had to buy two bags of a compound fertiliser and was allowed to buy just one bag of urea. “Earlier, we used to get urea easily,” says Kadam, who farms 15 acres of corn, soybean, arhar dal, and groundnut.
That bag of urea, once 50 kg, now weighs 40 kg. The 10-26-26 compound, a mix of 10% nitrogen, 26% phosphorus, and 26% potassium, has jumped from Rs 1,850 to Rs 2,450 per bag, while its weight too has been quietly cut from 50 kg to 45 kg. “The rising fertiliser rates have hit our budget hard,” Kadam told The Indian Express.
With global supply chains still strained, first by the Russia-Ukraine war, now compounded by the ongoing West Asia conflict disrupting shipping routes and energy costs, Indian farmers are bearing the brunt of cascading input-cost pressures. In Maharashtra, the squeeze is being felt most acutely in the Marathwada region.
MLAs flag crisis
The shortage has now reached the floor of Maharashtra’s cabinet. Several public representatives met Agriculture Minister Dattatray Bharne recently to voice their constituencies’ grievances. BJP MLA Suresh Dhas, Shiv Sena MLA Kailas Patil, and NCP (SP) MLA Sandeep Kshirsagar, among others, flagged the acute urea shortage and demanded the immediate release of fertiliser quotas sanctioned for their respective constituencies.
Acknowledging the problem, Bharne advised representatives to promote alternative fertilisers in the interim, assured them that “no constituency would face unfair treatment,” and directed agriculture officials to immediately release sanctioned fertiliser stocks to the respective talukas.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Government of Maharashtra, total sanctioned fertiliser stock stands at 48.80 lakh tonnes, of which 16.31 lakh tonnes have been sold, and 21.86 lakh tonnes are currently available. Of the available stock, urea accounts for 4.77 lakh tonnes, Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) for 1.24 lakh tonnes, Muriate of Potash (MOP) for 0.84 lakh tonnes, complex fertilisers for 10.45 lakh tonnes, and mixed fertilisers for 4.56 lakh tonnes.
‘Earlier Rs 10,000/ acre, now Rs 15,000’
For Hanuman Dake, who cultivates around six acres of cotton in Beed, the fertiliser shortage is only one part of a larger crisis of rising input costs.
“Some fertilisers like urea and DAP are just not easily available. This year, I didn’t get DAP at all. The 10-26-26 has gone from Rs 3,600 per quintal to Rs 4,200. Earlier, I used to spend around Rs 10,000 per acre on fertilisers, now it’s around Rs 15,000,” he said.
Dake lists a cascade of rising expenses beyond fertilisers. “Female farm labourers now cost Rs 250 per day, up from Rs 200, while male labourers have gone from Rs 400 to Rs 500. Tractor charges to prepare my six acres have jumped from Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000, driven by higher diesel prices. Everything has gone up together,” he says.
New app, new headaches
To bring transparency to fertiliser distribution, the Central Government has launched a mobile application, the Fertiliser Sale Application System (FSAS), on a pilot basis in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Kolhapur districts, following an earlier trial at Ashtapur village in Pune. Under the system, farmers must book their fertiliser through the app and complete biometric verification at the shop before receiving stock.
In principle, the intent is sound. In practice, farmers say, it is adding hours to what used to be a simple purchase. “From June 1, fertilisers are being sold through booking on the government app in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. Transparency has increased, but several farmers are facing issues with biometric verification after reaching the shop. Many don’t have smartphones, or don’t know how to use them. Network issues in rural areas are another problem. Sometimes the server is down, the online payment fails, and it takes almost a day just to buy one bag of fertiliser,” said Kadam.
The minister has acknowledged these tech glitches. Bharne has directed the State Agriculture Ministry officials to convene a meeting to resolve the app’s issues promptly. The Central Government has said it intends to fix the flaws and continue fertiliser distribution through the FSAS platform for the remainder of the Kharif season.
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