Sino-Pak enhances it cooperation for mitigating Pakistan’s fertilizer crisis, China Economic Net (CEN) reported on Sunday.
As per the report, in recent years, the sharp rise in fertilizer prices kept farmers in Pakistan unsettling. Data shows that the cultivated land area in Pakistan has increased by 2 million hectares in the past two years, and 2021 is the year with the highest urea sales in Pakistan’s history.
It is predicted that if the supply of urea cannot be guaranteed, the annual wheat yield in Pakistan may decrease by 5% to 10%.
To relieve the fertilizer shortage, at the beginning of 2022, the Pakistani government approved the import of 50,000 tonnes of urea from China on an immediate basis, at a price lower than the current international level.
Besides import and export trade, the two countries can explore more cooperation in fertilizer. Some Chinese agricultural experts shared their experience with Pakistani farmers during interview with CEN.
“The type and dosage of fertilizers used should be set according to local conditions and crop characteristics. Farmers should not only know the amount of fertilizer to be used, but also understand why they should use it that way,” Li Guang, Secretary-General of China Phosphate and Compound Fertilizer Industry Association said.
The saying “no pains, no gains” is not for applying fertilizer, and the overuse of fertilizer will bring about resource waste and environment damage.
Reasonable use of fertilizer can reduce cost and decrease waste for farmers, achieving ‘twice the result with half the effort’. Besides, improving planting method can save the amount of fertilizer to be used on unit area too. Intercropping is a good choice.
“This is strawberry-onion intercropping. In the late stage of strawberry planting, onion seedlings are sowed. —INP
