To get urea, traders force farmers to buy low-grade herbicides

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, December 19

Private traders and cooperative societies, including Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited (KRIBHCO), in Faridkot are allegedly forcing farmers to buy ‘unwarranted’ herbicides and bio-fertilisers of poor quality with every bag of urea.

Two weeks ago, a KRIBHCO centre in Kotkapura was allegedly offering farmers one kg bio-fertiliser (potash mobiliser bacteria) with purchase of five bags of urea. Now, they are being forced to buy 1 kg of herbicide with the purchase of five bags of urea. Farmers alleged that the cooperative societies are also forcing them to buy Markfed-made herbicides and pesticides with every urea purchase.

Atma Singh Sidhu, district agriculture officer, Faridkot, said, “The department is receiving complaints from farmers and has asked them to inform it if they are forced to buy any pesticides or any other chemical along with the purchase of urea.”

Reports said some private traders of urea are running parallel businesses of selling pesticides and insecticides as margins on the sale of urea are low.

NK Bhadu, DGM (sale), KRIBHCO, Punjab and Haryana, said no instructions were issued for selling herbicides or bio-fertilisers along with urea. KRIBHCO had never indulged in such practices. A delay in the arrival of imported urea has created panic among farmers. They are buying more than what they need in order to hoard it for the coming months and thus, creating scarcity for the fertiliser, he said.