FARMERS' WORRIES ABOUT FERTILIZER UNFOUNDED : MINISTER

Serang, Dec 6 (ANTARA) - Agriculture Minister Anton Apriantono has called on farmers not to worry about fertilizer for this year's planting season because there was more than enough in stock.

During an unscheduled inspection of a fertilizer maker PT Pusri's storehouse at Sawah Luhur village in Serang, Banten, on Saturday morning, the minister had found plenty of fertilizer.

"I saw a great amount of fertilizer in the storehouse and therefore the, farmers should not worry," Ariantono said.

The minister said farmers, especially in Banten province, should not scramble to buy fertilizer in fear of it becoming scarce because existing stocks were more than enough for the planting season in December.

According to the minister, the volume of the fertilizer stock he had seen in the storehouse was around 25,000 tons but he expressed hope that it could be evenly and fairly distributed among local farmers.

He also called on distributors, local agriculture offices, and fertilizer producers to distribute it quickly to the farmer without making the distribution complicated.

"If farmers need fertilizer, their demand should be met in one day without delay," the minister said.