'Sufficient fertiliser stocks available for Rabi season'

ISLAMABAD: The Fertiliser Review Committee (FRC) on Friday expressed complete satisfaction with the country’s current Fertiliser reserves, ensuring adequate supplies of both DAP and urea for the upcoming Rabi season.

Federal Minister for Industries, Production, and National Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain chaired a meeting of the FRC to assess the stock position of DAP and urea Fertilisers for the Rabi season 2024-25, a press statement issued here read.

The minister highlighted the increasing demand for DAP Fertiliser in the country, with a 44 percent surge in DAP offtake. The rise in demand is attributed to the Punjab government’s Kisan Card initiative.

The DAP offtake estimate for October 2024 was 215,000 tonnes, which has increased by 44 percent to 309,000 tonnes.

This increase is mainly due to the disbursement of Rs 75 billion by the government of Punjab as an interest-free loan through the Kisan Card (Rs 30,000 per acre for seeds, phosphorus, and nitrogen) for 500,000 farmers, each with up to 5 acres (Rs 150,000 per farmer). So far, farmers have drawn Rs 18 billion to procure fertiliser.

The trend of increased DAP off-take in October is expected to continue through November and December 2024.

Rana Tanveer assured that additional fertiliser stocks are available to meet farmers’ needs, helping them achieve higher yields during the Rabi season.

He emphasized that farmers’ prosperity is crucial for the country’s progress and urged provinces to take stern action against hoarding and price manipulation.

The meeting was also attended by the Secretary Ministry of Industries Saif Anjum, the Secretary Ministry of National Food Security Ali Tahir, senior officials from the Ministry of Finance, Commerce, Food Security, Industries, and representatives of provincial governments and other stakeholders.