The Agriculture Department has made special arrangements for supplying urea to farmers for taking up samba cultivation in the district. A consignment of 1,324 tonnes of urea arrived here from Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers in Tuticorin on Wednesday.
The supply was sourced by the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Marketing Federation (TANFED) to meet the demands of farmers. Normally, the supply would be routed through Tiruchi, but considering the urgency of the demand, special arrangements were made to send the wagons directly to the Pudukottai railway station.
About 300 tonnes of urea each has been allotted to Pudukottai and Aranthangi blocks. S.M.Shajehan, Joint Director of Agriculture, told The Hindu that this was the second phase of urea supply. A couple of weeks back, about 460 tonnes of urea was despatched to all the cooperative depots in the district following spike in demand. The supply of urea would immensely benefit the farmers of Aranthangi block which received intermittent showers in the last one week, Mr. Shajehan said. Farmers in Meemisal and surrounding areas had taken up direct sowing of ‘samba’ seeds and the showers had helped in prompt germination, he said.