SADIQABAD, April 28: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Friday performed the ground-breaking of Pakistan’s largest $475 million fertiliser plant, saying the plant would help a great deal in meeting the shortage of fertilisers.

The Fatima Fertiliser Complex (FFCL), being built in the private sector at Machi Goth, has an annual designed capacity of producing 1.580 million tons of urea, calcium, ammonium nitrate and phosphatic fertilisers like NP and NPK (substitute of DAP).

Referring to the shortage of fertiliser in the country because of a widening gap between demand and production, the prime minister said the FFCL would contribute to fulfilling the fertiliser needs in the country.

He said the plant would also help save the foreign exchange and reduce the huge subsidy being incurred by the government for selling imported fertiliser to farmers at reasonable prices.

He said an appropriate use of fertilisers and getting benefit of the soil testing facility in time was the need of the hour.

Mr Aziz said the agriculture sector was the main driving-force behind the economic progress and it was being developed on priority.

The agriculture sector contributes 25 per cent of the Gross Domestic Products and employed 42 per cent of the total labour force.

Emphasising the importance of promoting the agriculture sector for poverty alleviation, he said about 65 per cent of the country’s population depended on the agriculture sector for sustenance.

He said that development of the agriculture sector would lead to an overall progress of the country.

He expressed the hope that establishment of the fertiliser plant would attract more investment in the fertiliser industry.

He said the government was trying to provide agricultural inputs to farmers at competitive rates to help them get better return for their produce.

Minister of State for Environment Malik Amin Aslam Khan in his speech said that FFCL was an environment-friendly project.

He said the FFCL, being set up at an area of 400 acres, would be completed in 2007 and provide employment to 1100 people.