DKS reaches out to farmers, discusses fertiliser price hike

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President DK Shivakumar on Wednesday visited farmers in Magadi, Ramanagar and spoke to them about difficulties pertaining to fertilizer prices.

“With the onset of the monsoon, especially, the rising prices of fertilisers are making farmers bankrupt,” Shivakumar said. He also visited the Magadi Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) yard.
He also sought to compare the price of fertilizer today as compared to the prices a year from now at the yard.

“Fertiliser (of the 20:20 complex variety) MRP last year was Rs 1,325. This year it is Rs. 1,470. In 2014, urea was Rs 90. Now it is Rs. 266. In the black market, it is being sold for Rs 500. The NPK 15:15 fertilizer packet used to cost Rs. 1,100. It has risen to Rs 1,500.

“The DAP fertiliser variety was raised to Rs 1,900 by the central government. Then it introduced a subsidy of Rs 700, making the price Rs 1,200. The price has been raised another Rs 150, bringing the cost to Rs. 1350. The 10:26:26 fertilizer variety used to cost Rs. 1,200 last year. It now costs Rs. 1,700,” Shivakumar said.