HARIPUR, Dec 15: Excessive use of the DAP fertilizer in an effort to reap extra yield has seriously damaged the under soil of the farmland and affected its fertility, reducing per acre yield , according to Baqir Farooqi, agronomist and former research officer of Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC).

He was speaking at the inauguration of a private fertilizer factory in Hattar here on Monday.

About the excessive use of DAP fertilizer, Mr Farooqi said that the country had suffered a loss of billions of rupees in foreign exchange annually on the import of DAP while its excessive use had delivered no good to Pakistani farms but given birth to a virus which caused a damage to the under-soil and stiffened it to the extent that crops and fruit plants could not receive nutrients.

He said, per acre yield of Pakistani crops and fruit had fallen considerably. He referred, especially, to the reduced area of banana crop in Sindh province which according to him had fallen to only 20,000 acres against 250,000 acres during the previous years. He said that the use of DAP for banana crop had given birth to a virus in Sindh which had destroyed the fertility of farm land.

Chaudhry Ehsan, another agro researcher, and Naeemur Rehman of agriculture department of Haripur in their speeches said that the use of DAP fertilizer had increased acidity (PH value) of soil to the level of eight against permissible limit of PH 7 because of which they added the weeding and watering of farm land had become difficult and affected the farm land.

They recommended the use of local fertilizers particularly having rock of Kakul area which according to them had 2 to 3 PH (acidity) level and was better for redemption of damaged fertility and yield.

Mali Shahbaz the MD of private fertilizer factory told that the factory would use locally excavated rock for their products which was available in the hilly areas of district Abbottabad.

He told that new unit was established with a cost of Rs32 million and has production capacity of 12,000 metric tonnes annually. He said that the company was also planning to establish Rs48m sulphuric plant in the same industrial zone which was expected to offer job opportunities to over 300 workers.