Urea availability sufficient for rabi season, says Agriculture Minister Tummala
Hyderabad: Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao on Tuesday said the State had sufficient urea availability to meet farmers’ needs during the ongoing rabi season.
The Minister reviewed fertiliser stocks, urea movement and distribution through a video conference with district collectors. The Chief Secretary and the Special Chief Secretary also participated in the review.
Tummala Nageswara Rao said the Centre allocated 10.40 lakh metric tonnes of urea to Telangana for the rabi season. Against the expected arrival of 5.60 lakh metric tonnes between October and December, the State already received 5.70 lakh metric tonnes.
He said farmers purchased 3.72 lakh metric tonnes of urea so far this season. On average, daily sales stood at 8,692 metric tonnes. During the same period last year, farmers bought only 2.81 lakh metric tonnes. The Minister said the current consumption was higher by nearly 92,000 metric tonnes.
At present, Telangana has a closing stock of 2.15 lakh metric tonnes of urea, he added.
Urea app implementation and farmer response
The Minister said the Agriculture Department launched the fertiliser (urea) app from December 20 in Adilabad, Mahabubnagar, Jangaon, Nalgonda and Peddapalli districts. So far, 82,059 farmers booked urea through the app and purchased 2,01,789 bags.
Within nine days of launch, officials distributed more than 22,000 urea bags per day in these districts. Tummala Nageswara Rao said the department introduced the app only to help farmers and ensure transparency in urea sales.
He interacted with collectors from districts where the app was in use and sought feedback. Collectors told him that officials resolved occasional technical issues immediately. Farmers, he said, also expressed satisfaction with the app.
Drawing a comparison, the Minister said farmers already benefited from the Kapas Kisan app for cotton procurement. He said the urea app followed the same model to streamline fertiliser distribution.
Monitoring of stocks and supply measures
Tummala Nageswara Rao directed officials to ensure smooth urea supply in both app-implemented and non-implemented districts. He asked district collectors to closely track stock position, demand and daily distribution.
Where necessary, he said officials should open additional sales points. He also instructed them to form special monitoring teams at the mandal, division and district levels to oversee urea distribution.
The Minister warned that officials must address any distribution issues immediately. He said supervision should not suffer from laxity at any level.
Reassuring farmers, Tummala Nageswara Rao said they need not worry about urea availability. He said the State government had adequate stocks to meet demand. For farmers’ convenience, he added that the Agriculture Commissionerate had set up a toll-free helpline at 1800-599-5779.
Later, the Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao instructed collectors to ensure fertiliser sale centres opened early each morning. He asked officials to regularly update stock data and conduct evening reviews with district officers to avoid supply disruptions.
Special Chief Secretary Sabyasachi Ghosh said PACS centres should operate three to four counters. He also directed officials to arrange shamianas and drinking water for farmers at sale points.
Agriculture Secretary Surendra Mohan, Agriculture Director Gopi, Marketing Director Lakshmibai, MARKFED Managing Director Srinivas Reddy, Cooperative Additional Registrar Chandramohan Reddy and other officials attended the meeting.