FOUR TEAMS CONSITUTED TO CHECK ILLEGAL TAGGING WITH FERTILISERS, SAYS GURMEET KHUDIAN

• Adequate supply of DAP/NPK/SSP for the upcoming Rabi season, Agriculture Minister assures Majha Kissan Sangarsh Committee

* Meeting of Sugar Cane Control Board on September 27

Chandigarh, September 19:

To check the practice of boosting sale of other products by illegally tagging them with fertilisers, Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare department has formed four teams, each overseen by officers at the Joint Director level.These teams have been tasked with combating this illegal practice.

Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian directed the formation of these teams following a meeting with the Majha Kissan Sangarsh Committee here at his office on Thursday.

The Agriculture Minister assured the Majha Kissan Sangarsh Committee delegation, led by it president Balwinder Singh, that Punjab has an adequate supply of DAP/NPK/SSP for the upcoming Rabi season as Punjab is receiving sufficient quantities of DAP and other phosphatic fertilisers.

On the matter of forcefully tagging of other agricultural products with fertilisers, raised by the Farmers' delegation, S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian stated that the Punjab Government led by Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann will not tolerate any exploitation of our farmers. He emphasised that any unscrupulous individuals attempting to coerce farmers into buying additional products along with fertilisers will face legal action.

Meanwhile, Special Chief Secretary Agriculture Mr. KAP Sinha mentioned that Punjab anticipates sowing wheat over an area of about 35 lakh hectares, necessitating around 5.50 lakh metric tonnes of Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertiliser. He shared that he had a meeting with the Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers and Union Fertiliser Secretary last month to secure sufficient supply of fertilisers for Punjab farmers for the upcoming Rabi season.

The Agriculture Minister responded to the demand for an increase in sugarcane prices by stating that the state has scheduled a meeting of the State Sugar Cane Control Board on September 27, and all mills will commence crushing on schedule. He also mentioned that the capacity of the Cooperative Sugar Mill in Batala has been raised to 3500 Ton Crushing per Day (TCD) from its previous capacity of 1500 TCD.

MD Sugarfed Ms Senu Duggal, Director Agriculture Mr Jaswant Singh and other senior officials of the department were also present in the meeting.

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