Like every year, farmers across the country are once again facing an acute shortage of fertilizers, and Chhattisgarh is no exception. This year too, urea and DAP fertilizers are in short supply in the cooperative societies of the state. Poor farmers, after standing in queues for two days without food and water, are being forced to return empty-handed. The government continues to assure them that there is sufficient stock and that they should not worry.
But farmers know from bitter experience that assurances will not yield fertilizers. Without struggle, they cannot save their crops, and Mother Earth will not forgive neglect. With hardly a week left to rescue their crops, they are compelled to come onto the streets, where they face lathi charges from the administration and abuses from officials. To feed themselves and the world, they must first feed the land.
Paddy is the principal Kharif crop of Chhattisgarh, and urea and DAP are the key fertilizers required for its cultivation. Agricultural scientist P. N. Singh notes that 200 kg of urea is needed for one acre of paddy. Paddy is cultivated on about 39 lakh hectares in the state, which means 19 lakh tonnes of urea are required. Yet, the government has allocated only 7 lakh tonnes to cooperative societies.
Thus, the availability of urea works out to just 122 kg per hectare, or 49 kg per acre. It may be argued that Chhattisgarh does not yet practice farming intensive enough to require 19 lakh tonnes. While this is true, should the government not encourage advanced farming and ensure the supply of fertilizers necessary for it?
The average fertilizer consumption across India is 68 kg per acre annually, while in Chhattisgarh it is only 30 kg—down from 38 kg in 2009. Reduced availability has clearly led to lower consumption, which in turn has affected production and productivity. In tribal regions, fertilizer use is only 10 kg per acre. Can paddy truly be cultivated with so little? The backwardness of farming in these areas is directly linked to economic distress and the absence of access to fertilizers.
Chhattisgarh has 1,333 cooperative societies with 14 lakh members, but only 9 lakh benefit from them. Of the 8 lakh big and medium farmers in the state, most monopolize these benefits, while 25 lakh small and marginal farmers—5 lakh registered with cooperatives and 20 lakh outside—are excluded. These smallholders depend on the market, where fertilizers are sold at double or triple the official rate, far beyond their means.
The shortage of DAP and urea has fuelled rampant black marketing. Urea bags priced at Rs 266 are being sold for Rs 1,000, while DAP priced at Rs 1,350 is being sold for Rs 2,000. The BJP government has failed to curb this black trade, which has raised input costs and undermined cultivation. This is particularly alarming since fertilizer use in Chhattisgarh is already far below the national average of 120 kg per acre—just 38 kg here.
Agriculture in Chhattisgarh spans 48 lakh hectares, including paddy, sugarcane, maize, coarse cereals, pulses, oilseeds, and vegetables. Different fertilizers are needed depending on soil, crop, and season. For Kharif, the government supplies 14 lakh tonnes on average—7 lakh tonnes of urea, 3 lakh of DAP, and 2 lakh of SSP. Even this falls short, and 45 percent is routed through the private sector, where much of it disappears into the black market under the pretext of shortages.
The current crisis is rooted in a sharp reduction of DAP. The target has been slashed from 3 lakh tonnes to 1 lakh. The government claims that the shortage of one bag of DAP can be made up with three bags of SSP and one bag of urea. By this logic, the state should have provided 2 lakh tonnes of urea and 6 lakh tonnes of SSP. Instead, the urea allocation has not been increased, and only 3.5 lakh tonnes of SSP are being provided additionally. The state is now short of not just DAP but also urea and SSP.
After the cut in DAP, Chhattisgarh requires at least 22 lakh tonnes of fertilizer, but only 17 lakh tonnes are available—a shortfall of 5 lakh tonnes. The government claims to have compensated through nano fertilizers, providing 2.91 lakh bottles of nano urea and 2.93 lakh bottles of nano DAP (500 ml each). Farmers, however, doubt their effectiveness. Even if used, these liquid fertilizers equate to just 7,245 tonnes, a mere 1.5 percent of the shortage. Instead of solving the problem, this experiment has deepened the crisis by creating deficits in all major fertilizers. Yet, the government insists its “nano miracle” has closed the gap.
Even if fertilizers were made available, replacing DAP with urea and SSP would increase costs by Rs 1,000 per acre. In the black market, this burden rises to Rs 2,000. On average, farmers face an additional cost of Rs 1,500 per acre, translating into a collective burden of Rs 1,800 crore. This wipes out any gains from government schemes such as PM Kisan or bonuses—taking from one hand while giving from the other.
Chhattisgarh has long reported high farmer suicide rates. NCRB data showed 45 suicides annually for every one lakh farmer families. Under Modi’s rule, the corporatization of agriculture has intensified, with natural resources handed over to corporations under the BJP’s “Saayan-Saayan” regime. This has deepened the agrarian crisis, and farmer suicides are likely to have worsened further.
The Modi government’s pro-corporate policies lie at the heart of this tragedy. Its push for privatization in the fertilizer sector has stripped the state of price control. Farmers are paying for these policies with their lives—dying in queues, trapped by debt and microfinance loans, or driven to suicide. This is a dangerous situation for Chhattisgarh’s agriculture and its farmers.
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The author is the Vice-President of Chhattisgarh Kisan Sabha, affiliated with the All India Kisan Sabha
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