Editor,
Tired by claims and counter claims of credit by certain political individuals, farmers, NGOs and political parties of Meghalaya, the Centre finally came out with a notification allowing 2,436 villages from 21 Community and Rural Development Blocks to avail of chemical fertilisers from the MeCOFeD (Meghalaya Cooperative Marketing Federation Limited) and not from open market.
Those from these villages who use chemicals are given fertilisers by MeCOFeD but not at a subsidised price but at a fixed price. In fact, the Agriculture Department has stopped the subsidy on the supply of chemical fertilizers since 2014 but farmers continue to get those from the open market at market price, which is much higher than the subsidised price given by state government. The whole idea was to encourage the use of biodegradable fertilisers which cause no harm to human health and the environment. Even officers and trainers of farmers from the department encouraged and insisted farmers to use biodegradable fertilisers which have no harmful effects on human health and animals and on the environment as a whole.
The Centre has issued the notification to continue the supply of chemical fertilisers through the state Co-operative Marketing Boards due to the demand pressures from farmers in different states of India. The reason for discontinuation of subsidy on chemical fertilisers is because of their harmful effects. Besides, subsidy has an adverse effect on the Centre’s annual budget by way of a huge increase in the budget deficit.
Philip Marwein,
Senior journalist
