SAMBALPUR: The issue of fertiliser shortage took an ugly turn on Sunday when a farmer, Manjit Bhoi (35) of Talab village under Dhankauda block allegedly committed suicide by consuming pesticide as he could not afford urea to save his crop. It was only on Friday that farmers under the banner of Sambalpur Zilla Krushak Surakhya Sangathan had gheraoed Agriculture Deputy Director Ashok Kumar Mohanty demanding measures to prevent black marketing of potash and urea fertiliser. Reports said that Manjit had inherited seven acres along with his two brothers and had taken another 13 acres on lease. Having suffered huge crop loss due to untimely rain last season, he had gone for early transplantation, this year. But while everything went on smoothly, he was badly in need of urea fertiliser for proper plant growth. For the last one month, Manjit had been running from pillar to post to arrange for subsidised urea as he was not in a position to procure the fertilizer from the open market. His paddy plants had started wilting and after returning from his farmland at about 10 am on Sunday, he looked dejected and consumed pesticide. Though rushed, he succumbed in the district headquarters hospital. Sources said that Manjit along with his father and younger brother had Rs. 1.65 lakh loan pending with the village Co-operative Society. He looked forward to bumper crop this time to enable him to repay the loan. Sambalpur Zilla Krushak Surakhya Sangathan general secretary Byomokesh Thakur said artificial scarcity of fertiliser has affected the farmers badly. He alleged that although urea was priced at Rs. 278.86 it is being sold between Rs. 520 and 550, while potash, priced at Rs. 312, is available for Rs. 450. Besides the monsoon, the State Government has also failed them with faulty policies, he added. Another farmer Chakraborty Rao of Talpadar village in the same block had allegedly ended his life on July 26.
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