ISLAMABAD: According to WealthPK, Pakistan must present a thorough long-term plan for the supply of domestic urea in order to guarantee long-term food security and end the ongoing shortages.
According to Kissan Ittehad President Khalid Khokhar, the farmers want the government to import at least 200,000 tonnes of urea in order to meet the growing domestic demand. The estimated urea net consumption for the current year is 7,000,000 tons. This growth is brought on by both the development of agricultural acreage and the rising usage of fertilizer in cotton and grain crops.
An extra 200,000 tonnes of urea are needed as a buffer reserve to keep prices stable and market sentiments positive. Even if 210,000 tonnes of compost were imported in December 2023 and January 2024, the country may still be short 600,000 tonnes of urea, as domestic production this year barely met the yearly need of 7 million tonnes.
It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of urea in agriculture since it is essential for raising soil fertility and encouraging healthy crop growth. Given the significance of this fertilizer, preemptive steps must be taken to manage any possible shortages that would have a negative effect on the nation’s food security, according to Bilal Iqbal, a scientific officer at the National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad.
He claimed that in order to guarantee food security and stop the recurrent shortages, the government needed to create a long-term plan for the supply of domestic urea.
To fulfill the rising demand, the comprehensive strategy must include a number of crucial components, such as expanding domestic urea production, streamlining distribution routes, and encouraging cooperation with the private sector. Pakistan can reduce its reliance on imported urea and build a resilient and self-sufficient agricultural system by increasing domestic output, the speaker continued.
A standard urea price should also be applied nationally to stop intermediaries from taking advantage of pricing variations.
The farming community is quite concerned about the exponential rise in fertilizer costs. The industry has been shaken by this trend since it seriously jeopardizes both economic stability and food security.
There is an immediate need for a multifaceted strategy to solve this problem. First and foremost, the government needs to act quickly to lessen the impact that farmers are facing from the growing cost of fertilizers. Subsidies or focused assistance may be required to guarantee that the necessary fertilizers stay under budget. The local fertilizer manufacturers’ manufacturing costs can be decreased by prioritizing improvements in energy supply and infrastructure, he added.
