Farmers in Telangana have been protesting over the urea shortage in the state, alleging that they have not received adequate supplies even after standing for hours in long queues in front of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS).

On August 29 farmers held a sit-in protest in Siddipet district’s Gajwel, raising “CM Down Down” slogans. While in Medak, farmers placed footwear and stones in a queue while waiting for the centre to open. 

On August 30, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) held a protest at the Gunpark in Hyderabad over the urea shortage in Telangana. BRS MLAs T Harish Rao and KT Rama Rao (KTR) participated in the protest. Slogans such as “Ganpati Bappa Morya. Kavalyya Urea (Ganpati Bappa Morya we want Urea)” were raised during the protest.

On August 30, Telangana agriculture minister Thummala Nageswara Rao, the state is set to receive  49,275 tonnes of urea from the Central government. Rao said that this fresh consignment will be allocated to districts where the demand for fertiliser is highest, aiming to ease the shortages currently faced by many farmers across Telangana.

Additional 2.38 L tonnes requested from Centre

Alongside the scheduled supply, minister Thummala has formally earlier requested an additional 2.38 lakh (238,000) tonnes of urea from Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister JP Nadda.

This request is meant to supplement the 1.5 lakh (150,000) tonnes of urea already approved for the state for the month of September. The state government hopes that the Centre will approve this extra allocation to provide a steady supply of fertiliser during the peak agricultural season.

During a review meeting at the Secretariat on Friday, August 29, minister Thummala addressed the pressing issue of urea supply and assessed the crop losses in the state. He provided specific updates, stating that 21,325 tonnes of urea are expected to arrive in Telangana within the next two days, followed by another 27,950 tonnes in the first week of September.