Shahbaz, farmers’ body blame govt for urea shortage
Posted by Labels: Fertilizer, Pakistan, Shortage, UreaISLAMABAD: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has expressed concern over the brewing urea crisis and said it could have repercussions on the agriculture sector and hit the production target for wheat.
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, he said the wheat sowing season was in full swing, but situation on the ground regarding the availability of urea was “extremely disturbed and it is apprehended that it will worsen in the days to come”.He accused the federal government of ignoring the problem.
The Farmers Association of Pakistan (FAP) has also criticised the federal government for not effectively dealing with the issue of fertilizer shortage.
Talking to Dawn, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, chairman of the FAP and former foreign minister, said the country was silently heading towards a disaster as it might not have enough wheat to meet local demand.
He said there was not enough urea to go ahead with the Rabi season because of sheer mismanagement by the federal government, adding that the shortage would severely affect the wheat production. Besides, Mr Qureshi said, wheat could not be cultivated in most parts of Sindh because of this year`s floods, and by the time land was ready, the Rabi sowing season would be in last phases, affecting the production there.
About two months ago, he said, the FAP had organised a seminar in Lahore where the same issue had been discussed in details and the federal government was asked to take remedial measures. But nobody at the helm of affairs took action.
The FAP chief said urea prices had shot up from Rs850 per bag last year to Rs2,200 this year. How could farmers to go for big wheat sowing in these circumstances, he asked. He said a sad part of the story was that the country had enough production capacity to meet the local demand for urea, but government`s failure to tame those earning huge kickbacks in the import of fertiliser had led to the current crisis.
Raja Mohammad Basharat, the prime minister`s adviser in the Ministry of Industries which deals with the production and import of fertilisers, admitted the shortage of urea, but said the government was trying to meet the requirement of farmers. He linked the shortage to low supply of gas to local factories producing fertiliser.
Moreover, he said, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources had been requested to provide uninterrupted supply of gas to local manufacturers and expressed the hope that availability of urea would stabilize in coming days.
About allegations regarding the issuance of urea permits only to his party`s (PML-Q) MNAs and MPAs, Mr Basharat said his ministry was following a prescribed criterion under which only registered dealers could deal in its marketing. He said the National Fertilizer Marketing Limited dealt with the issuance of permits to dealers and the industries minister had issued a strict warning that any discrimination in this regard would not be tolerated.
About sky-rocketing prices of urea in the country, Mr Basharat said some unscrupulous elements in the market were taking advantage of temporary shortage of fertilizer. However, he said it was the responsibility of both the federal and provincial governments to enforce price control mechanism.
The Punjab government has set a production target of 20 million tons of wheat, 36 million tons of sugarcane, one million tons of corn and 0.5 million tons of gram for the Rabi season. It said that if farmers didn`t receive urea on time the production target would be badly affected.
The DAWN
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