Fertilizers from China to end shortage: PM Imran Khan
Gwadar Pro
Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan this week told his aides that fertilizers from China will end shortage of urea in the country.
Chairing a high-level meeting here to take stock of supply and demand of fertilizer, especially urea in the country, Prime Minister Imran Khan maintained there was no immediate shortage of fertilizers in Pakistan.
He mentioned that Pakistan was procuring fertilizers from China to help the farmers. “There is 25,000 tons daily production of urea in the country and there is no shortage,” the PM quoted as saying in an official statement.
The PM highlighted that “we had recorded bumper crops of wheat, sugarcane, cotton and maize during last year and Rs.822 billion additional income was earned by the farmers during the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 due to the agriculture-friendly policies of the government.”
He remarked that the additional income had resulted into more urea purchase by the farmers. “The government is focused on providing adequate quantity of fertilizer for maximum wheat production to ensure food security. The availability of fertilizer to farmers, especially in next three weeks is very crucial to have a bumper wheat crop”, he added.
The Prime Minister directed the authorities concerned to take all possible measures for the effective management of supply chain of urea for Rabi (winter) crops.
He directed the provincial Chief Secretaries to put a curb on hoarding, smuggling and buying of urea by middleman outside the fertilizer supply chain through district administration authorities.
He ordered all the authorities concerned to work with all stakeholders including producers of fertilizers to ensure adequate supply of urea to the farmers to achieve record wheat production this year.
The meeting was attended by Energy Minister Muhammad Hammad Azhar, Finance Ministe Shaukat Fayyaz Tarin, Industries Minister Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Minister for National Food Security Syed Fakhar Imam, Minster of State for Information Farrukh Habib, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communication Dr Shehbaz Gill and senior officers.
Later, Minister for Industries and Production Khusro Bakhtiar told a news conference that additional supplies will be started from Monday next.
Flanked by Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar and the fertilizer companies’ owners, the minister pointed out that at present about 350,000 bags of urea are being produced on daily basis, which will be enhanced to 440,000 bags from January 10.
He informed that 2 million bags of urea had been procured from China and if the need arises, more procurement will also be made.
Khusro Bakhtiar said additional urea stocks of 4.4 million bags and 8.2 million bags will be available in the months of February and March respectively.
