People involved in 'artificial shortage' of urea will be dealt with iron fist: PM

Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the government is focused on the supply of suitable amount of fertiliser for maximum production of wheat to ensure food security in the country.

The premier was chairing a meeting in Islamabad on Friday regarding the demand and supply of fertiliser especially urea in the country.

He said that 25,000 tonnes of urea are produced in Pakistan every day which is enough to meet the needs of the agriculture sector, warning that those who are "creating an artificial shortage of urea would be dealt with an iron hand".

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The prime minister also added that record bumper crops of wheat, sugarcane, cotton and maize were produced in the country last year.

Due to agriculture friendly policies of the government during the year 2020-2021, the farmers earned an additional income of Rs822 billion, he added.

"The farmers increased the purchase of urea due to the income earned by them," he said.

He went on to say that the availability of urea for farmers especially during the next three weeks is very important to achieve a bumper crop of wheat.

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The prime minister directed the relevant officials to take all possible steps to put in place an effective supply chain of urea for the Rabi crops.

He instructed the provincial chief secretaries to take effective steps to stop the hoarding and smuggling of fertiliser, through the district administration and end the purchase of fertiliser through the middlemen outside of the normal supply chain.

He ordered the officials to work together with all stakeholders including manufacturers of fertiliser so that supply of urea could be ensured to the farmers for a bumper crop of wheat this year.

Web portal launched to curb urea smuggling

Moreover, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Khusro Bakhtyar has said the government has provided a subsidy worth Rs400 billion for the development of agriculture sector and ensured uninterrupted gas supply to the fertiliser industry to boost agriculture production in the country.

Addressing a press conference along with owners of fertiliser industries in Islamabad, the federal minister said the government has also launched a web portal to monitor urea production and supply.

He said dealers’ names, locations and truck numbers have been entered in the ‘tracing system’ by the manufacturers in real-time to help monitor the fertiliser transport. "The government is taking all these steps to control smuggling of urea bags."