Islamabad : February 15,2024: The caretaker government decision to increase the gas prices for the fertilizer industry is set to damage Pakistan’s farming sector seriously as it will result in increase in urea prices massively. The caretaker federal cabinet in its meeting held on Thursday endorsed the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) decision of approving the increase in the gas prices for fertilizer industry. The government decision to increase the gas prices for the fertilizer industry has come at a when the farming community is already facing hard times and complaining of high input cost proportionate to per acre income . The government decision of revising up the gas prices will result in increase of Rs 1350 per bag of urea for FFBL and Rs 1650 to Rs 1700 per bag for Engro product. The caretaker government decision is going to create an precedented distortion in the fertilizer market and damage Pakistan’s farming sector more than anything else. With the potential increase in the prices as a result of an impact of the increase in gas rates , the urea price for the farmers will increase from the current rate of Rs 3800 per bag to Rs 4950 per bag for FFBL and Rs 5500 to Rs 5650 per bag for Engro product for next season .
Since the increase in urea prices will result in distortion in the fertilizer market that subsequently will leave the farmers in the lurch, It seems that the caretakers have only one priority to meet the International Monetary Fund (IMF) demands without considering the negative impact on its decision of jacking up gas rates for the farming sector. The farmers will pay for those in cities using gas for cooking…and then farmers will recover from the public at large through higher rates of food supplies….so all stakeholders of agriculture sector are going in a vicious circle.
The Fertilizer Manufacturers Pakistan Advisory Counsel (FMPAC ), Executive Director , Shair Shah in his response to the government decision of pushing up the gas rates for fertiliser industry said the recent unprecedented surge in gas prices presents a daunting challenge for farmers and urban consumers alike. Impact will be passed on to the farmers to shoulder gas costs for cooking. They are forced to offset these expenses by hiking food prices, affecting consumers across the board. This vicious cycle perpetuates a ripple effect, posing a significant threat to Pakistan’s agricultural sector and jeopardizing national food security. Furthermore, it risks causing severe disruptions in fertilizer supplies, imperiling the sustainability of our agricultural industry.”
Pakistan Nissan Ittehad chief , Khalid Khokhar , in his statement on the issue said the increase in urea prices will literally bury the farmers of Pakistan who are already in trouble due to low prices of major cash crops like cotton, maize and others. He said the new hike in urea prices will crush Pakistan’s farmers .. Mr Khalid Khokhar added that Indian farmer is getting urea per bag for Rs 900 and its high price in Pakistan is putting Pakistani farmer at complete disadvantage in the region.