Officials to distribute 5,000 tonnes of urea to farmers from today

Hyderabad: Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy said on Thursday the officials would distribute 5,200 metric tonnes of urea to the farmers from Friday.

The Minister along with State Agriculture Secretary C Parthasarathi and other officials visited Visakhapatnam and Gangavaram ports in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday to review the operations to speed up transportation of urea to the State.

Thanking the railways, port authorities and officials of the Andhra Pradesh government for extending their cooperation in the transportation of urea, Niranjan Reddy said, "the State government is augmenting supplies through rail and roadways to ensure the required stocks of urea reaches the State from various ports in time."

He said a total of 20,387 metric tonnes of urea has been lifted from all port points for the last one week. From Visakhapatnam port about 6,800 metric tonnes of urea has been lifted, besides, 15,000 metric tonnes of IPL urea, he added.

The Minister along with the officials held a meeting with the Gangavaram Port Chief Executive Officer N Sambasiva Rao and appreciated the port authorities for extending their cooperation.

The Minister also visited a Vietnamese ship carrying the urea docked at the port, besides inspecting the operations at the warehouses and preparation of wagons meant to transport the urea to the State.

Niranjan Reddy appreciated the gesture of the workers and transporters expressed their readiness to work in three shifts if needed to ensure early lifting and transportation of urea stocks to the State.

The Minister said following the directions of Chie Minister K Chandrashekar Rao officials are taking every step to ensure supply and distribution of urea, he said.