KARACHI: Increased prices for di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser, along with a lack of urea, are projected to result in a decrease in wheat production in Pakistan this year.
Pakistan Businesses Forum (PBF) President Mian Usman Zulfiqar said in a statement on Saturday that wheat crop output was in jeopardy due to a severe lack of urea since the start of the sowing season.
“Growers are paying inflated costs in the range of Rs2,500 to Rs2,700 for a 50kg bag of urea, notwithstanding the government’s assurances,” he added, adding that the official rate was fixed at Rs1,768.
Zulfiqar recalled his meeting with the minister in question, saying that the latter dismissed the fertiliser scarcity as “propaganda,” and that PBF’s repeated pleas to keep agriculture out of politics were ignored.
“Everyone is now witnessing the devastating consequences of carelessness.”
He expressed concern that the “artificial shortage” of fertiliser in several locations will reduce the per-acre wheat output in the current season.
The government argues that there is surplus fertiliser on the market, but growers are concerned that it would affect sugarcane and maize crops as well.
The federal government has set a wheat output target of 30 million tonnes for this season, up from 27.3 million tonnes last year, but the availability of DAP and urea fertiliser has been a problem.
In September 2021, various departments had highlighted the problem in a timely manner, but no action was made to fix the problem, according to Zulfiqar.
“Farmers are the ultimate victims of government mismanagement,” he said.
He noted that there were various causes for supply and demand mismatches, and that some people were blaming farmers of panic fertiliser purchases.
“This is true to some extent,” he emphasised, “but the vast majority of small-scale growers do not have the money to resort to panic buying.”
“After verifying their identification as farmers, they queue for hours merely to collect a couple of bags of urea.”
He said that the country has excess urea, as evidenced by fertiliser manufacturers’ recent request for authorization to export the commodity to the federal government.
In the event of a shortage this year, Zulfiqar warned that, given the 4-5 percent yearly growth in wheat consumption, Pakistan will have to produce roughly 32.5-35 million tonnes of wheat next year.
Aamer Hayat Bhandara, co-founder of Agriculture Republic, predicted that wheat output would be lower in the current season for a variety of reasons.
According to him, a twofold increase in DAP prices was a big factor in the wheat harvest’s drop.
“DAP pricing was Rs4,000 per bag last year, but this year it has increased to Rs8,000,” he bemoaned. “The seeding of wheat has been hampered by a substantial increase in rates, which has reduced farmers’ purchasing power.”
On the other side, the government failed to raise the wheat minimum support price, which harmed farmers’ revenue, according to Bhandara.
He was disappointed that urea, which was essential for sowing crops, was difficult to come by.
“Previously, farmers could find urea at exorbitant rates, so they bought smaller quantities,” he explained. “Fertiliser treatment that is less than required will undoubtedly reduce crop productivity.”
The president of the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture, Miran Mohammed Shah, admitted that the wheat harvest had been affected to some extent by the urea shortage.
On the other side, rising diesel and energy prices, as well as overall inflation, saddled farmers with additional debt, preventing many of them from using phosphorous fertiliser.
“Despite all of these obstacles, a great crop is on the way,” he said. “I don’t believe there will be a scarcity if procurement is done efficiently.”
