SAHIWAL, Dec 17: The district is facing a monthly shortage of around 250,000 bags of urea fertilizer during Rabi season while manure manufactures have linked the urea supply with equal number of DAP bags to dealers and distributors.

This abundant supply of DAP has forced dealers to sell the fertilizer at subsidised rate of around Rs2,600 per bag instead of Rs3,120. The district chapter of the Fertilizer Dealers Association has condemned the linking of urea supply with DAP, but manufacturers have defended it, saying it was part of the quota agreement dealers had inked with them to procure the manures.

Around 1.2 million urea bags is the demand of local growers during Rabi season from November to February, but currently 50,000 bags are being supplied by manufacturers every month, causing a shortage of around 250,000 bags per month.

Dilber Husain, who is proprietor of Waqar Traders, told Dawn that manufacturing companies were not supplying urea according to dealers’ demand and instead forcing them to buy equal quantity of DAP fertilizer. The DAP stock in market has increased considerably, reducing its prices up to Rs400 per bag.

“Urea companies are causing to local dealers a Rs400 loss on each DAP bag,” Waqar added. “We demand urea and they provide us DAP, which is unjust.”

Muhammad Munir, president of the Fertilizer Dealers Association, Sahiwal chapter, confirmed that companies were compelling them to sell DAP along with urea. “As it is not farmers’ current demand, each dealer has to sell DAP with a Rs400 loss,” Munir added.

The office-bearers of the dealers’ association also met Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Iqbal at a private function in Pattoki on Nov 15 and briefed him on the manufacturing companies’ “illogical” demands. They also persuaded the speaker to get their meeting arranged with the chief minister to apprise him of their problems.

Murtazi Qadoosi, who is regional sales manager of Engro (Private) Limited, said the dealers had fully exhausted their annual quota of urea but had not utilised their DAP quota. “Now their DAP stocks are lying on factory premises, so we linked the supply of DAP with that of urea.”

He denied that DAP sale was under any compulsion. “It was under the prescribed quota the dealers had agreed to purchase from the company.”

Sanaullah Khan, who is Fuji Fertilizer Company district in-charge, said it was mandatory for the company to promote “balanced use of fertilizer among growers”. Therefore, dealers were asked to pick DAP along with urea in every Rabi or Kharif season, he added.

District Officer (agriculture) Muhammad Farooq said this was an internal arrangement between manufacturing companies and distributors and the department had nothing to do with it.

Farmers are, however, still running from pillar to the post to find even a single bag of urea.

Mumtaz Ahmad, who had come from Mirdad Mafee village to buy manures, told Dawn that his wheat crop had grown up sufficiently and it badly needed urea. “But, I have failed to find even a granule of urea.”

Sabir Ahmad, of Chak 80/5-L, said this was his fourth visit to the market and every time he had to return empty-handed. “Today’s visit was not different than the previous ones, as my efforts to buy a urea bag did not bear fruit.”

CONFISCATED: The agriculture department has confiscated 2,000 bags of urea being sold at prices higher than the ones fixed by the provincial government.