Meghalaya government announced that chemical fertilizers would once again be offered to farmers in the state at legally set prices. To protect the interests of farmers who use fertilizers, fertilizers will be made available at legally fixed prices (as established by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers) in a controlled manner, according to the Agriculture department commissioner and secretary Vijay Kumar.
He claimed that the Meghalaya State Cooperative Marketing and Consumers' Federation Limited (MECOFED) would purchase the state's allotment of fertilizers from the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) for distribution to farmers at legally set prices.
The Meghalaya Agriculture Department discontinued a fertilizer distribution programme in June 2014 and laid the groundwork for organic farming over the long term in an effort to lessen the hazardous effects of chemical fertilizers on human health and the environment.
Kumar claims that many farmers continued to use chemical fertilizers like urea, DAP, MOP, and SSP even after the subsidy programme was terminated in 2014.
According to him, using fertilizers is necessary to maintain the higher productivity of crops like potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, and cauliflower, which are widely grown in the state.
The senior official also claimed that because the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers was prevented from allocating fertilizers for the state as a result of the 2014 order, fertilizers were sold illegally and farmers were forced to pay prices that were two to three times higher than those set by law.
However, he added, "Today's order did not offer subsidies to farmers; rather, it announced the controlled use of fertilizers in certain areas.
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