With first spell of monsoon showers, sowing operations begin

With the onset of monsoon, farmers in Chhattisgarh have embarked on the kharif sowing operations in the state.

However, while the state government claimed that it was well-stocked with the seeds and fertilisers for the season, the Opposition Congress alleged that it was not prepared to provide assistance to farmers.

"The Agriculture Department has begun distributing the seeds and fertilisers, besides disbursing agriculture loans to farmers," a senior official said here on Friday.

The department has already arranged sufficient stock of seeds as well as fertilisers for the kharif season, the official added.

Presently, around 8,25,735 quintal seeds are available which is 81,394 quintal more than what was demanded by farmers for this season, the official claimed.

The target is to disburse around 11.25 lakh metric tonnes fertilisers to the farmers and so far 1.21 lakh metric tonnes urea, 31,800 mt tonne super phosphate, 21mt tonne potash, 81,000 mt tonne DAP,and 12,000 mt tonne NPK have been distributed, he said.

However, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, T S Singhdeo, alleged that the state government was not prepared with the stock of seeds for the ensuing kharif season which may in turn cause loss to the farmers.

"Monsoon has arrived in the state, but the seed stock was not made in the cooperative societies up to its full capacity and the farmers are running pillar to post in search of seeds," he said.

Generally, the Bastar region receives the first spell of monsoon in the state and the farmers here have started sowing paddy before others parts. It is the appropriate time for sowing, but farmers still don't have seeds due to the government's wrong policies, he alleged.