While news of urea-shortage has begun to hog the media headlines with states such as Madhya Pradesh reporting such stories, Biscomaun’s initiatives in Bihar has helped check the black-marketing, claimed its Chairman Sunil Kumar Singh.
“It is true that we sell just 10 percent of fertilizer in the state but we do impact the rest of the sales by creating a benchmark for all- Rs 265 per bag of urea”, said Sunil explaining the implications of the cooperative’s initiative.
Thanking IFFCO and its MD, Sunil says that things would change if IFFCO is allowed to sell more fertilizers in the state by the Centre which allocates quota to companies.
“Today IFFCO roughly sells about 9 lakh metric tonnes in the state and given farmers’ blind trust in its brand-value, a greater share to the co-op titan would be a boon for the farmers of the state, said Sunil who has recently been elected an MLC.
Those farmers who are not able to buy vests of Rs 100 to cover their upper parts are forced to pay Rs 150-200 in black for each bag of urea, said Sunil explaining how IFFCO-Biscomaun together had fixed the price regime to change it all.
Meanwhile, like in the past year Bihar Marketing Cooperative Biscomaun has again begun to hog the media headlines for selling urea to farmers at the price of Rs 265 per bag which forces state farmers to run towards the Biscomaun centers spread across the state.
175 Centres of Biscomaun and about 5o sale points of IFFCO are actively stabilizing the price of urea for the farmers, said Sunil adding he has a list of 13 lac farmers who have bought fertilizers through POS machines last year.
There are also reports of farmers not following the social distancing and other norms and standing in large queues at the centers for their turn to buy urea. The farmers have to stand in queues since morning for their turn.
Singh further added that while urea is being sold in the open market at the rate of Rs 400-500 per bag, Biscomaun has ensured that not an extra pai is taken by its staff-members. Our centers are selling IFFCO’s urea. Sometimes it is difficult for us to sell urea to farmers without the help of police as a large number of farmers stand in long queues”, he added.
There is no doubt that Biscomaun has succeeded in boosting the image of cooperatives by standing by people itimes of need —be it Kashmiri apples at the time of Chatta or onion in the time of crisis, quipped a senior co-operator.