Owing to the demand for ?Godavari? brand fertilizer (DAP), the Andhra Pradesh government has asked the Union government to allot entire production of the company to the AP State Cooperative Marketing Federation Ltd (Markfed).
?The (AP) government has made a request to the fertilizer ministry to allocate the entire production from Godavari Fertilizers to the State,? Markfed chairman P Prabhakar said. He added that the ministry is expected release a formal order to this effect and hopefully Godavari brand can be supplied from July 2008.
In view of the demand from the farmers for the ?Godavari? brand fertilizer, the ministry has in-principle agreed to the State?s request, he said. The Godavari brand fertilizer is being produced within the State. This measure would enable the company to reduce transport costs, Prabhakar added.
For instance, the farmers from Ranga Reddy and Medak district are not taking other brands and demanding only Godavari brand fertilizer. ?We have already supplied about 2,500 MTs of fertilizer to Ranga Reddy and Medak districts but the farmers are demanding Godavari brand only,? Prabhakar said. Interestingly, a portion of the fertilizers being produced by the company also been allocated to the neighbouring States including Karnataka.
Meanwhile, Markfed has initiated talks with the other fertilizer companies to improve the supply position. ?We have decided to lift the entire allotted quota from IPL and IFFCO,? Prabhakar said.
As per official estimates about 32.5 lakh MT of fertilizer is required during the current Kharif season and the Markfed is ready to lift at least 30% from the private companies, Prabhakar said. As of now, Markfed maintain about 26,841 MT of stock at their godowns, while the stock-in-transit from IPL and IFFCO about 70,000 MTs. Till now, the company has procured about 83,000 MT of fertilizer and supplied through primary cooperative societies in the state.
Apart from providing enough stocks at the primary cooperative societies, the government also has decided to absorb the secondary transport costs, i.e, transport cost till the point of sale in the village. The government has already released Rs 25 crore for the purpose, he said.
