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ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Industries and Production has directed fertiliser manufacturing companies to print Rs1,480 price tag on each urea bag to discourage black-marketing and help farmers get the farm input at affordable price.
A spokesman for the ministry said that after resumption of gas supplies to fertiliser factories under the new gas load management plan, the government had further brought down urea prices to Rs1,480 from Rs1,580 per 50 kg bag.Prices had jumped to around Rs1,980 in recent past.
“Strong measures have been taken to ensure availability of urea in abundance at relatively cheap rates to farmers for the Rabi crop,” the spokesman said.
At a meeting held at the ministry here on Wednesday, it was informed that urea demand for Rabi season stood at 3.4 million tons and domestic production during this period would be 2.4 million tons with 0.3 million tons of leftover urea from previous season.
Around 0.9 million tons would be imported to bridge gap between demand and supply, it was decided.
The officials were informed that partial imports had already started reaching ports and 0.2 million tons would be offloaded and distributed during November while 0.5 million tons would reach the country in December when urea demand reached its peak.
Despite the fact that natural gas, a basic raw material for the production of urea, was insufficient in the country, the government had decided to provide additional gas to the fertiliser sector under the Gas Load Management Plan for winter 2011-12, said the spokesman.
The factories, he said, were now running at 80 per cent capacity and would produce 2 - 2.5 million tons of fertiliser in November and if the enhanced supply continued through December, the factories would be able to produce 5.5 million tons more.
This would ensure sufficient supply of urea in the country for wheat crop, he said.
The government has already earmarked Rs25 billion subsidy to supply imported fertiliser to farmers at prices commensurate with locally produced fertiliser. Meanwhile, the prime minister has set up a Committee comprising federal ministers for finance and industries to remove bottlenecks in distribution of fertiliser and end disparity between imported and locally produced urea.
The committee will also ensure elimination of black-marketing, profiteering and hoarding by middlemen.
