The Mamata Banerjee government has urged the Centre to increase the quantity of NPK 10:26:26 fertiliser allotted to the state ahead of the rabi season, aaccusing New Delhi of not meeting the state's requirement over the past few years leaving the farmers in a spot.

Panchayat minister and chief minister's agriculture advisor, Pradip Majumdar, said the Centre had allotted a total of 2.23 lakh tonnes of NPK 10:26:26 fertiliser for Bengal ahead of the rabi season.

“But the state's requirement is 4.5 lakh tonnes of NPK 10:26:26. The chief secretary has already written to the Centre urging it to increase the allotment since the farmers will require proper support in terms of fertiliser supply at a time when floods and Cyclone Dana hit them during the kharif season,” said a senior government official.

Sources have said NPK 10:26:26 is important for rabi (winter) season, particularly for crops like the potato, as it ensures three primary nutrients.

“As the Centre did not supply NPK 10:26:26 according to the requirement of the farmers in the state, the farmers were forced to buy the fertiliser at a much higher rate from the black market. This was why the input cost of the farmers had gone up,” said a source.

As the farmers were already in trouble because of the floods during the kharif season, the state was taking steps to ensure that they were supplied with enough fertiliser during the rabi season.