The government has imported 60,000 tonnes of urea from China in order to distribute it to farmers belonging to the Cauvery delta region and other southern districts to meet their requirements during the current season.
The consignment reached Karaikal Marg port on Monday and packing work was going on to transport the urea to the districts.
Collector T.Munusamy visited the port and inspected the ongoing packing process along with the Joint Director for Agriculture, N.Pannerselvam. He told media persons later that 6,000 tonnes would be sent to Nagapattinam district, 5,000 tonnes to Tiruvarur district and 8,000 tonnes to Thanjavur district to meet the requirement for samba and thaladi crops. It was the right time to apply fertilizers for growth of paddy.
The urea would be distributed to farmers through Primary Agriculture Co-operative Banks.
The total requirement of urea for farmers of Nagapattinam district was around 11,000 tonnes for samba and thaladi seasons. The Agriculture Department had distributed 9,000 tonnes of urea through PACBs. Now, it has received additional 6,000 tonnes of urea. So, farmers need not worry about the availability of urea and other fertilizers.