Chandigarh, May 19, 2021 (Yes Punjab News)
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today demanded the central government provide fertilizers diammonium phosphate (DAP) and nitrogen phosphorus potash (NPK) at subsidized rates to farmers, saying the 50 to 60 per cent hike in the rates of both fertilizers would break the back of farmers and force them into a debt trap.
“Farming is already becoming un-remunerative. The unprecedented hike in the rates of fertilizers will put an unbearable burden on the farmers of the State who will face a cumulative loss of Rs 1100 crore due to the increase in fertilizer rates alone. It will also have a long time effect on the agrarian economy and could prove to be devastating for the peasantry”, SAD Kisan Wing President Sikander Singh Maluka said in a statement here.
Demanding the government take back the hefty increase of Rs 700 from Rs 1200 per bag to Rs 1900 per bag in the case of DAP and an increase of around Rs 400 to Rs 800 per bag in the case of NPK, Mr Maluka said this would not only reduce the income of wheat, paddy and maize farmers but would also severely effect potato and sugarcane farmers who used large quantities of DAP.
He said potato farmers used as much as four bags of DAP per acre while sugar cane farmers used three bags of DAP per acre. He said the Punjab government should also offer DAP at the old rates to farmers from cooperative societies.
Stating that there was a growing feeling amongst the peasantry that the central government was deliberately discriminating against farmers and wanted to teach them a lesson for agitation for the repeal of the three hated Agricultural laws, Mr Maluka said “the centre should stop this vendetta exercise. It should understand that if the Kisan dies the country will also cease to exist and should revoke its decision to hike fertilizer rates immediately”.
Mr Maluka also demanded that the diesel prices be rationalized; saying the more than Rs 25 per liter hike in diesel prices in the last one year had resulted in a loss of Rs 500 crore to farmers of Punjab. He said the Punjab government should also understand its duty towards the ‘annadaata’ and should reduce own State VAT on diesel which was amongst the highest in the country.
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