New Delhi, Jan 27 : Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday asked the states to plan in advance for their fertilisers needs and provide estimates to the Centre so that the Fertiliser Department can timely provide sufficient amount.
He also suggested that states should increase the use of NPK and liquid urea and reduce the dependence on DAP fertilisers.
Tomar was speaking at the National Conference on Agriculture for Summer Campaign 2021-22, held virtually, where national and state wise targets for pulses, oilseeds and nutri-cereals were set for the summer 2021-22.
Secretary, Fertilizsers said that adequate and timely availability of fertilisers would be ensured. Giving estimated availability of fertilisersfor Kharif 2022, he said that the total availability of urea is likely to be 255.28 LMT, of DAP 81.24, of MOP 18.50, of NPKS 76.87, and of SSP 34.
On the new seed varieties developed by the ICAR, Tomar said the states should use these for better production of summer crops.
Addressing the conference, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Kailash Choudhary advised the states to send proposals to certify the entire block or area as organic/natural farming block so that farmers who belong to that area need not apply for certificate individually.
He also asked states to provide a market for organic farmers.
A ‘Working Manual on Indian Seed Certification’ was released on the occasion.
Secretary, Agriculture, Sanjay Agarwal, and other senior officers from Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, ICAR and officers of different state governments participated in the national conference through video conferencing.
An interaction session was also organized with Agriculture Production Commissioners and Principal Secretaries of all the Sstates in four groups to share the achievements, challenges, and strategies to be adopted in respective states for increasing area coverage, production, and productivity during summer/Zaid season in the agriculture sector.(IANS)