Companies and partnership firm plantations in the South, cultivating tea, coffee, rubber and spices, are finding it difficult to obtain fertiliser subsidy since January 1, 2018, as rules mandate production of Aadhaar for the same.

According to United Planters’ Association of Southern India chairman T. Jayaraman, the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme for fertiliser subsidy has led to problems for plantations as companies and partnership firms do not have Aadhaar.

The DBT scheme is implemented in all the three southern States that have plantations — Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.

Companies and partnership firm plantations are unable to procure the fertilisers whenever there is a requirement. Some of the fertiliser manufacturers had suggested that the authorised representatives of the plantations provide their Aadhaar for purchase. However, it would be billed in the name of the representative.

The plantation sector, covering 18.3 lakh growers, is going through a tough phase due to several reasons, and non-availability of fertilisers at subsidised rate makes operations difficult, he said.

B. Radhakrishnan, director of UPASI Tea Research Institute, said the cost of fertilisers had increased manifold in the last seven years. Since tea is a foliage crop, fertiliser use is high compared to other plantations. On an average, in the total cost of cultivation, 9% is towards fertilisers for soil application and 4% for foliage application.

Without subsidy, the input costs will shoot up. For instance, the subsidised rate of MoP (Muriate of Potash) is ₹11,200 a tonne and without subsidy it will be almost ₹20,000, he said.

In a memorandum subsmitted to the Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers, Mr. Jayaraman suggested that till the implementation of the Unique Identity Number of Enterprises announced in the Union Budget this year, the Government can take PAN, TIN or CIN (Company Identification Number) from companies instead of Aadhaar.