Bhopal, Nov 7 (UNI) The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh today admitted in the Assembly that the state was facing shortage of DAP and other fertilisers and was in regular touch with the Centre and other agencies for procuring it in adequate quantity.

Replying to a call attention notice moved by Ms Saroj Bachhan Nayak and Mr Ramniwas Rawat, Agriculture Minister Choudhary Chandrabhan said only 3.61 lakh tonne fertiliser was made available in the state till October 21 this year against the estimated requirement of 17.16 lakh tonne for the Rabi season.

Admitting that DAP fertiliser was in short supply for the past two years, Mr Chandrabhan suggested that the farmers should use a mixture of urea and super phosphate instead of DAP. There was no shortage of urea, he added.

This drew loud protest from Dr Govind Singh (Cong) and other opposition members, who arraigned the Agriculture Minister for his ''utter ignorance of agriculture practices''. The Minister said the raw material for DAP was being imported and the Centre was being impressed upon the need for its supply in adequate quantity.

Mr Chandrabhan said seed position was satisfactory as more than five lakh quintal seeds were made available in districts against the demand for 4.89 lakh quintal for Rabi season.

The Agriculture Minister said the state received an average 1002 mm rainfall this year as compared to normal rainfall of 977 mm.

Crops ranging from 5 to 25 per cent were damaged in 1.57 lakh hectare due to excess rainfall in few districts in August. However, due to favourable monsoon Kharif crop was sown in 104.46 lakh hectare this year against 102.27 lakh hectres in other years.

Mr Rawat said farmers were forced to purchase urea from the open market at higher rates, while Dr Govind Singh said farmers agitating against fertiliser shortage were lathicharged in Shivpuri. DAP fertiliser was not available for mustard cultivation, Dr Singh added.

Mr Durgalal Vijay and Mr Indrajit Kumar also took part in the discussion.

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