Agri Forum Pakistan, Chairman, Muhammad Ibrahim Mughal, has accused the fertiliser companies of making undue profit of billions of rupees per annum by charging exorbitant prices of DAP fertilisers. Mughal claimed that fertiliser factories were selling DAP bag at Rs 3,900 per bag while it cost only Rs 3,000 per bag.
Both the federal and provincial governments have given a free hand to the fertiliser manufacturers to charge unreasonable high prices to deprive growers, Mughal said in a statement issued on Tuesday. Agri Forum Pakistan Chairman claimed that DAP fertiliser was available at US 520 dollars per tons internationally and after adding sales tax, transport and other expenses a 50 kilogram bag of DAP costs only Rs 3,000.
He said that fertiliser companies also increase prices of the imported DAP as soon as its rates increase in the international market to make more money on fertiliser imported at lower rates. However, these companies never bring down their prices when rates go down in the international market, he regretted. He said that sowing of all the 'Khareef' season crops would start in next few weeks including cotton, sugarcane, maize and rice and all these crops need DAP fertilisers.
Around 30 million bags of DAP fertilisers are used in the country and fertiliser companies are charging Rs 900 profit from the growers on each bag, which is unjustified. He said that these companies were minting undue profit of Rs 24 to 27 billion per annum.
Mughal alleged that no body was paying heed to the problems being faced by the growers' community in the country. He also accused the federal and provincial governments and bureaucrats as equal shareholder in the loot and minting of unjustified profit by the fertiliser manufacturing units. He warned that it might result in lesser application of fertilisers and 10 to 15 percent reduction in the production of different crops.
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