Ganjam admn to distribute urea through PACS

Berhampur: In a bid to streamline urea distribution , the district administration has decided to distribute the fertilizer through Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS).

"As per govt decision, we are giving priority to PACS when it comes to distributing urea to farmers. This will help check the alleged sale of urea at a higher price and the artificial scarcity created by private dealers," Ganjam collector Keerthi Vassan V said on Sunday.

"The urea which will be supplied to the district by the govt in the future would be distributed to PACS through MARKFED. We expect to streamline urea distribution with this measure and the farmers will get the right quantity at the correct price," he added.

In Ganjam, there are 363 PACS which sell urea, sources said.

"As per the direction of the collector, we have supplied 1800mt of urea, which was provided by the govt on Saturday to 126 PACS across the district," Ajay Kumar Kar, chief district agriculture officer, said.

He added that the district has received around 23,976 mt of urea so far, against its requirement of around 34,000 mt.

"We expect to get around 2500 mt of urea next month and about 7000 mt by the end of this month. The demand for urea has increased this year because more farmers are cultivating paddy in the district," Kar said.

The administration has cracked down on the unauthorized sale and illegal stocking of urea by dealers. "The license of a dealer in Beguniapada block was suspended and showcause notices were served to 64 others as they failed to maintain record properly. A case was registered against a person in Khallikote police station for allegedly selling urea and other fertilizers without license. Around 125 bags of urea (each bag containing 45 kg) were seized from three unauthorized persons in Chhatrapur, Hinjili and Khallikote blocks," Kar added.