Trinamool Congress MP Kirti Azad has written to Union minister for agriculture and farmers’ welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan, bringing to his attention how farmers from multiple states, including Bengal, were facing a severe crisis of fertilisers during the rabi(winter) season.

The Burdwan (East) MP, who is the chairperson of the parliamentary standing committee on chemicals and fertilisers, wrote in his letter that the minister had responded to a starred question in the Lok Sabha on December 6 last year that the Centre had made available 38.27 lakh tonnes of Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) against a requirement of 35.52 lakh tonnes across the country.

“This report is not only evasive but also factually misleading. Reports from multiple states, including West Bengal, clearly indicate that there was a severe shortfall in the supply of fertilisers, directly contradicting the Ministry’s assertion of adequate availability,” Azad wrote in his letter dated February 11.

The MP further said the chief secretary of Bengal had written a letter making it clear that the state did not get enough DAP even though the allocations had been approved by the Centre.

“The Chief Secretary of West Bengal, in an official communication dated October 29, 2024, (DO No: 87-CS/2024) explicitly stated that despite repeated requests and approved allocations, the state received only 57,510 MT of DAP — less than one-third of its sanctioned requirement for the Rabi season,” he wrote in the letter.

According to Azad, the gap left an impact on the lives of the farmers as they struggled to procure fertilisers during critical sowing times and many of them were forced to stand in long queues or pay exorbitant prices on the black market. In some areas, the situation had turned so tense that police had to be deployed at the distribution centres to pacify the aggrieved farmers.

Sources in the state administration said the MP took up the matter with Chouhan as his Burdwan East Lok Sabha constituency is known for cultivation of potatoes and the farmers suffered a major blow in the rabi season as the Centre did not supply other fertilisers like NPK 10:26:26, too.

“The lack of fertilisers left the farmers of Bengal in a spot this year as the input cost went up because they had to buy fertilisers from the black market at a much higher rate. Now, if the farmers don’t get enough price for their produce, the economy of the rural area would be hit. This would not be a good situation for the ruling party ahead of next year’s Assembly polls,” saida bureaucrat.

The MP urged the Union minister to initiate corrective measures to ensure a timely supply of fertilisers to the farmers.

“Any further delay will not only hurt farmers but also jeopardise the overall food security of the nation,” the MP wrote.