Udaipur: State agriculture minister Kirori Lal Meena conducted a surprise inspection on Thursday at Patel Phosphate Company in Umarda, Udaipur, and discovered large-scale adulteration in organic fertilisers. Holding a sample, the minister said, “This is adulterated,” confirming suspicions of substandard production. The raid followed earlier reports of poor-quality fertilisers being sold to farmers. “We had received several complaints. Eight samples taken in May failed to meet standards. A central team even visited, and their six-month subsidy was suspended, yet they did not improve,” the minister said. Following the discovery, checks were extended to nearby factories as well. Meena emphasised that inspections are ongoing across districts to curb the supply of adulterated fertilisers and counterfeit seeds. He expressed concern over the exploitation of govt subsidies intended to support farmers. “The Indian govt provides a subsidy of Rs 328 on a 50 kg SSP bag, but inferior products are being sold using poor-quality rock phosphate. Farmers are being cheated,” he added. The minister shared sample results that revealed significant deficiencies. A sample taken on May 12 contained only 8.5% phosphorus against the required 14.5%. Another sample from May 14 had just 6.36%, and one from April 30 showed only 7.2% phosphorus—all well below the prescribed standard. To date, 11 samples have been collected from the factory—all failed quality checks.
