HYDERABAD: Condemning black market in urea fertiliser in Pakistan generally and Sindh particularly, the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) senior vice president has urged the prime minister and federal minister for industries and production to take action against those involved in that activity.

In a statement issued here on Thursday, he also appealed to the army chief to order inquiry into affairs of the main manufacturing companies of urea involved in that illegal act. By the end of June when they started cultivating rice in non-perennial area, price of urea fertiliser went skyrocketing, he said.

He said that a bag of urea was being sold for Rs4,000 instead of Rs3,100 and when the matter was brought to the notice of the agriculture department, it didn’t take any action against dealers.

He said the companies had stopped supplies of urea under a pretext. He demanded investigation into it and hoped that enquiry would be held to fix responsibility. He said if the exploiters were given a free hand, they would not only destroy crops, but also deprive Pakistan of billions of rupees.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2023