FARMERS fear a severe shortage of fertiliser, particularly of urea, during the rabi season that begins from October. This year’s rabi season comes after the country’s biggest floods since 1972 in the wake of furious monsoon.
But a bountiful rain is considered good for rabi crops which are sown in winter and harvested in summer. These crops include wheat, barley, mustard, sesame and peas. The water that has percolated in the ground during the rains is considered an important source of water for these crops although Rabi crops require irrigation.
Import of at least 600,000 tonnes of urea, as suggested by the ministry of production and industries, can bridge the shortfall in local supplies during forthcoming winter crops. But the Economic Co-ordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) has approved import of 185,000 tonnes, which will be followed by inviting tenders, opening of bids and other time-consuming procedural formalities.
The delay in import, farmers say, may delay sowing of wheat. Analysts say the imports of 600,000 tonnes would cost the government an amount of $247.80 million. The imported urea currently costs Rs2,413 per 50 kilo bag but is available at Rs1,785 in local markets, thanks to a subsidy of Rs628 per bag provided by the government.
The ministry of production and industries had proposed the import of at least 600,000 tonnes of urea for the rabi season
The Fertiliser Review Committee (FRC) of the ministry of production had asked the ECC to expedite the process of import of urea for the rabi crop season which runs from October to March. The committee wants most of the imports to be made by December-end, as growers use maximum urea during October-December to make the Rabi crop pest-free. Besides, shortages lead to sudden surge in prices.
Under the prevailing conditions, farmers expect an increase of 20-25pc in the prices of local urea if imports are delayed. Normally, imports start reaching the country in September. The sowing of wheat will start in Sindh from November 15 and in Punjab from October 15. Import tenders should have been issued by this time. Pakistan usually imports urea from Saudi Arabia, Middle East and Russia. Saudi Arabia also provides the commodity on credit. Only Trading Corporation of Pakistan, a state-owned entity, is authorised to make such imports.
The FRC meeting noted that farmers would need a total of 3.10m tonnes urea during the current season but only a stock of 2.4m tonnes is available and it includes domestically produced 2.38m tonnes and a carryover of 120,000 tonnes from the recent kharif season (April-September, 2014). So, there is a shortfall of 0.6m tonnes of urea.
Shortage of urea during sowing seasons has become a regular feature. On the eve of kharif season, there was shortage of half a million tonnes mainly due to curtailment of natural gas supplies to the fertiliser plants. The ministry of production and industries had suggested import of 700,000 tonnes urea to meet kharif season needs.
Currently, the use of urea cannot be avoided if the growers are tasked to produce higher yield and quick returns. But it leads to unabated depletion of soil fertility due to mining of the essential plant nutrients from the soils. Almost 100pc soil in Pakistan has become deficient in nitrogen; 80-90pc in phosphorus and 30pc in potassium. During July-March 2013-14, the domestic production of fertilisers witnessed an increase of 18.2pc over the corresponding period of last year. The imported fertilizer increased by 52.2pc.
As a result, the total availability of fertiliser increased by 26pc. Total offtake of fertiliser nutrients also showed an increase of 20.6pc. During January-July, 2014 period, the fertiliser off-take was seen subdued with 6pc production growth. According to National Fertiliser Development Centre statistics, urea off-take showed a negligible decline of 1pc. It was 4.197m tonnes in the first seven months against 4.233m tonnes in the same period last year.
Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, September 29th, 2014
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