Price of fertiliser jacked up by Rs100

Government fixes new rate of urea at Rs1,950 per bag

BHAKKAR:

The government increased the price of urea fertiliser by Rs100 per bag, from Rs1,850 to a new fixed rate of Rs1,950 per bag. Senior officials cited the shortage of fertiliser in the market as the factor behind the increase in rates.

Price banners will be displayed in prominent places at every dealer and no records of farmers and cultivators will be checked. Fertilisers will be regularly monitored and strict action will be taken by the administration on profiteers, non-dealers, middlemen, hoarders, and smugglers. The stock will be confirmed according to the portal.

Deputy Commissioner Bhakkar Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhoon added that undeclared warehouses would be considered as hoarding.

The movement of fertilizers in and out of the district will be allowed and an inventory record will be kept.

DC Bhoon, while meeting fertiliser dealers in the district, announced the new rates.

As per the orders of the Punjab government, dealers across the district will ensure sales of urea fertiliser at the official rate of Rs1,950.

The DC added that fertiliser dealers will ensure the availability of urea on government instructions and make sure there is always an available stock; no shopkeeper will allow urea to run out from his shop, the DC declared.

Rana Muhammad Amjad Farzand, Chief Organizer of the Fertilizer Dealers Association Bhakkar District expressed that the government must ensure the availability of urea from fertilizer companies. The Fertilizer Association is always striving for the development of agriculture and revival of economy, he said, providing fertilizer to farmers at government rates.

When we get the required quantity of fertilizer from the companies, the market will automatically supply ample quantity of fertilizer as per the requirement of the farmers.

Farmers Malik Younis Raza Hataar and Malik Mohammad Shafi Jhakkar said in their remarks on the increased rates that amid inflation where the prices of oil products and agricultural tools are rising daily, as well as other skyrocketing prices, the agricultural sector is declining. Emergency measures must be taken for its growth, as the prosperity of the farmer is intrinsically linked to the development of the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2022.