Sufficient wheat, fertiliser stocks available, NFRCC told

The National Flood Response and Coordination Centre (NFRCC) was informed on Tuesday that stocks of urea and diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser were abundantly available for the ongoing Rabi crop season.

The NFRCC session, chaired by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, was also informed that the wheat reserves were also sufficient to meet the country’s requirements.

The food secretary told the session that currently, out of 6,215,327 metric tons (MT) of wheat reserves at the national level. He added that the support price of wheat was determined by considering the cost of production.

The additional industries secretary told the forum that the required quantity of urea and DAP for the Rabi crop was available in the country and there was no shortage.

The secretary said that the tender for the import of 300,000 MT fertiliser was already under process, while at present, the fertiliser companies had reserves of 374,479 MT.

Ahsan said that the provincial governments and district administrations should play their role to ensure a timely and low-cost supply of fertilisers to the farmers and take strict action against hoarders.

The process of wheat seed supply for Rabi crops to the flood-affected farmers was also reviewed in the session and the forum instructed the provincial governments to ensure the establishment of facilitation centres at the tehsil level for the seed supply.