In a strong display of discontent, members of the Congress party’s farmers’ wing recently staged a protest at Prakasam Bhavan in Ongole. Their urgent demand was for the State government to immediately guarantee an ample supply of essential fertilizers, particularly urea, at government-stipulated Maximum Retail Prices (MRPs) and in sufficient quantities to meet agricultural needs.
K. Subba Rao, chairman of the Prakasam District Kisan Congress, spearheaded the protest, vehemently alleging an artificial shortage of urea orchestrated by unscrupulous dealers. He highlighted the severe difficulties faced by farmers across the district and indeed, the entire state, over the past three months. This scarcity of adequate urea has significantly hampered crop cultivation, jeopardizing agricultural productivity and farmer livelihoods.
Subba Rao revealed a troubling discrepancy: while the subsidized price for a 50-kg bag of urea is set at ₹266, dealers are reportedly exploiting the situation by selling it to desperate farmers for exorbitant prices ranging from ₹400 to ₹500. He urged the State government to take decisive action to rectify this unfair practice and ensure that urea is made available to farmers at the official, subsidized rates without further delay.