Jaipur, Aug. 26 -- Farmers in Rajasthan can now book fertiliser online, a move the state government says will reduce queues and help curb black marketing and hoarding. The Agri Stack- enabled fertiliser distribution system was rolled out from Tuesday in five districts-Bundi, Chittorgarh, Banswara, Dholpur and Churu- before being expanded by first week of September to the rest of the state. Agri Stack is a public digital database built by the central government to provide unified services across the agricultural sector. "Farmer IDs have been provided to 88.85 lakh farmers so far. To use the new system, they have to download an app and key in their farmer ID which will fetch their land record details and they can book the fertiliser," said principal secretary, agriculture, Manju Rajpal. "Farmer ID has been made compulsory for farmers to avail of government schemes and more and more farmers are signing up," said Agriculture Commissioner Naresh Kumar Goyal. "The government provides farmer grade Urea at Rs.266 per 45 kg bag, providing a subsidy of Rs.2000 per bag. This leads to black marketing. Sometimes dealers overcharge farmers or deny them fertiliser but with the new system all the dealers too will be linked and we hope to put an end to misuse," said Goyal. Rajpal said georeferencing of agricultural land has been completed and the relevant land records will be fetched once farmers enter their farmer IDs. Based on the size of the land parcel and the crop to be grown, farmers will receive the quantity of fertiliser recommended by the agriculture department. "The aim is that farmers should use fertiliser judiciously," she added. "The new system will ensure farmers receive fertilisers on time and conveniently, in accordance with their actual requirements, while effectively curbing black marketing, hoarding, overpricing and irregular distribution," said Rajpal. She said a pilot was carried out in June in Sirohi and Rajsamand districts where nearly 80,000 farmers were provided over 12,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser. "The farmers were satisfied and appreciated the new system," she said. Rajasthan received an incentive of Rs.175 crore from the Centre for implementing the system in Sirohi and Rajsamand while statewide implementation will make the state eligible for an additional incentive of Rs.675 crore, Rajpal said Goyal said the department has reviewed district-wise preparations, fertilizer demand and supply and available stocks for effective implementation of the digital system. Under the system, farmers will be able to book fertiliser according to their requirement and receive a token valid for 48 hours. They can use the token to collect fertiliser from the nearest authorised dealer, sparing them the inconvenience of standing in long queues, Goyal said. The department will be able to track bookings and dealer stocks digitally, allowing it to identify shortages and monitor distribution, he added. Rampal Jat, president of the Kisan Mahapanchayat expressed scepticism towards the move by the state government "The government is only trying new experiments and handing over fertiliser distribution to private dealers. Why should farmers have to go to the dealer? Earlier, fertiliser was made available through the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies that were at the village level. The system was efficient but the previous Congress government disbanded it and brought the dealers. This has created a nexus between politicians, dealers and bureaucrats and is not helpful to farmers," he said....