Bhubaneswar: Amid an alleged shortage of certain fertilisers due to the prevailing global geopolitical situation, the Odisha government has asked district collectors to take strong action against traders involved in black marketing and hoarding of fertilisers, officials said. The State Cooperation department has directed collectors to strictly monitor stock utilisation and eliminate any risk of hoarding, black marketing, artificial scarcity, or illegal cross-border movement. Furthermore, manufacturers and Markfed have been instructed to align allocations directly with real-time demand and stock availability across grassroots credit societies. Recently, to manage the supply and demand of urea and DAP in the current cropping season, the Agriculture department recommended an alternative fertiliser. The department had asked all district collectors to persuade the farmers to use ammonium sulphate as a substitute for urea, which contains 20.5 per cent nitrogen and 23 per cent sulfur, and will help increase yield while reducing sulfur deficiencies in the soil.