August 08, 2007	Wednesday	Rajab 23, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Aug 7: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday said the government would continue to monitor prices of fertilisers and ensure its availability to the farmers during the Rabi season and beyond.

He said this while chairing a high-level meeting held here at Prime Minister's House to review production as well as demand and supply situation of various types of fertilisers.

The prime minister said agriculture was the backbone of the economy as two-third of the population was dependant on this sector. “We have to achieve self-sufficiency in this field,” he asserted.

Referring to an earlier decision of the government for balanced use of fertilisers, Mr Aziz mentioned that it had not only helped increased the crop productivity but also fetched better returns to the farmers.

He said the improvement in the standard of living in the rural areas was one of the priorities of the government which would bring about a change in terms of development and uplift.

He said better crop yield could only be achieved through employing new farming technologies, seeds of better varieties as well as using balanced fertilisers.

He appreciated the fact that due to the efforts of the government, including farmers awareness campaigns as well as subsidising the price of DAP, more farmers were using phosphate fertilisers in tandem with urea to achieve bumper crops.

Mr Aziz said despite the fact that all crops in the country were showing good results including bumper wheat crop of 23.5 million tons. “We need to focus on managing our resources and making arrangements for availability of fertilisers along with other steps to ensure good yield of Rabi crops.”

He expressed confidence that the private sector fertiliser manufacturers would be facilitated to regulate the marketing and dealership network to prevent any possible complaint.

He said healthy competition in the private sector would ensure timely supply of best fertilisers at lowest prices through better dealership network.

Minister for Food and Agriculture Sikander Hayat Bosan apprised the meeting of the current status of availability of chemical fertilisers in the country for the upcoming Rabi season.

He said traditionally our farmers used only urea as chemical fertilisers but there was a need to promote balanced used of all the chemical fertilisers including urea, DAP and other types to achieve better yields.

He said the ministry of food and agriculture had discussed the requirements for chemical fertilisers for the Rabi season with the manufacturers and importers and they had been asked to make all necessary arrangements for ensuring availability of fertilisers.—APP