Secretary of Agriculture for South Punjab Dr Faisal Zahoor insisted there is no urea shortage for wheat crop, and stated tough measures are being taken against hoarders to maintain availability and price stability. He was presiding over a meeting to evaluate the situation surrounding urea availability and its pricing. He stated that about 98.78% of the nearly 2 million metric tonnes of urea sent to South Punjab by various firms had been received between January and December 26, 2022.

Dr Faisal said that from November 1 to December 27, during a campaign against urea hoarders, 510 dealers were fined Rs 5.4 million and 41 lawsuits were filed against them. He stated that 2300 urea bags collected from the hoarders were delivered to farmers at regulated rates during this time, and that two hoarders had also been immediately detained.

He encouraged farmers to identify anyone storing or selling urea for more money and pledged to take harsh action against them. He gave the go-ahead to the concerned officials to daily inspect the dealer inventories and continue the zero-tolerance campaign against those involved in the sale of inferior quality fertilisers. He said wheat is cultivated on 6.8 million acres in South Punjab, which requires the application of around 13.6 million urea bags.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk