Various organisations had raised the issue of farmers being forced to pay higher prices by fertilizer dealers. Mr. Patil has directed the officials of the Department of Agriculture to procure sufficient quantity of fertilizers, particularly urea, and supply them to farmers based on demand. According to a release, during a recent meeting, Mr. Patil directed the Joint Director of Agriculture to form special teams to visit and check fertilizer availability and take steps to ensure that shopkeepers displayed stock details along with the price fixed by the government. As per official data, there is a demand for 17,000 tonnes of urea till July-end and the district has received 17,917 tonnes so far. Meanwhile, in an attempt to make people adhere to COVID-19 advisory, the district administration on Tuesday decided to take the help of Fire and Emergency Services and use water canons against those violating guidelines.

Source: The Hindu July 22, 2020 18:16 UTC