Wheat growers are facing acute shortage of Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertiliser, apparently created artificially by stockists and agency holders, and this is hampering the sowing process.
Traders flatly refuse all ordinary buyers in open market, saying all the stocks had been sold out because of strong demand for the fertiliser amid the wheat sowing season, which otherwise seems a genuine excuse.
However, one could buy a 5-kg DAP bag at an escalated price instead of Rs 5 control price fixed by the government but in the black market and that too on the recommendation of political leaders and influential officials, particularly policemen.
The rate is likely to ascend further in the coming two weeks, as this is peak time to sow wheat. Many traders stock fertiliser bags in their godowns in rural areas to evade any raid by price control magistrates or district government officials and the practice goes on unchecked every year.
The district administration has, however, refuted the impression that the district was in grip of DAP shortage. A survey conducted by Business Recorder that complaints started emerging last week. Locals belonging to the Kanganpur locality said the district administration and the provincial government had failed to provide DAP fertiliser to growers on the control rate.
They said the district administration had failed to take any action against dealers involved in hoarding and black-marketing ahead of wheat sowing every year. A farmer from the Mandi Usman Wala locality said he bought DAP bags from a dealer after approaching a police official while another belonging to Chunian said he purchased the fertiliser on a "recommendatory" chit issued by an official of the district administration.
Muhammad Ashraf, a representative of local grain market's traders, told Business Recorder that majority of traders had purchased stock of DAP around two months back when its rate was Rs 1,300 and Rs 1,400 per 50-kg bag. He said the government decreased the prices around two weeks later without consulting the dealers' repesentative, which was one of the main causes behind DAP current shortage.
He said that majority of dealers had stocked fertilisers in their godowns in rural areas and small towns and that's why the local market was facing shortage of DAP fertiliser. According to a DAP agency holder, the magistrates or district administration officials checked and visited their depots situated in local grain market and not the godowns in rural areas.
He said these dealers, somehow or the other, succeeded in satisfying the officials that their stocks were open to ordinary buyers. Another trader said that it was an "open secret" that the agency holders had their godowns filled to their capacity but they sell DAP fertiliser to only those who were recommended by either district or tehsil nazim or some senior officials. An owner of a DAP agency said that he had invested huge money in stocking the DAP fertiliser and was justified in earning "arbitrary profit". District Coordination Officer Kasur Saeed Akhtar Ansari claimed that there was no shortage of DAP anywhere in the district.
He assured that his administration would take all possible steps to curb black marketing of DAP fertiliser and would ensure its supply at subsidised rates to farmers throughout the district. However, farmers claim that no such step has been taken as yet.
A representative of a fertiliser company warned dealers that they might suffer a loss in the end because supply of bulk of stocks from company stores to open market was likely and this could affect their profiteering spree. Another dealer said that all companies had suspended advance booking of fertilisers. Haji Khushi Muhammad, a Kissan Board leaders, said farmers were facing difficulties in purchasing DAP fertiliser due to monopoly of some companies.
Growers have urged the district government to consult their representatives and plan how to control the menace of hoarding fertilisers recurring every year. They also urged the government to ensure abundant supply of DAP and other fertilisers at prescribed rates so that the wheat produce traget could be achieved.
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