ISLAMABAD: The government is likely to announce a reduction in the prices of urea and diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilisers on Wednesday to help farmers reduce the cost of production.

Speaking to Dawn on Tuesday, Minister for National Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan said that a summary recommending reduction in DAP and urea prices has been sent to the Ministry of Finance which will issue a notification.

The prices of DAP and urea will be reduced to the level which existed before August 31 this year. It may be mentioned that fertiliser companies increased the prices of fertiliser effective August 31.

Bosan said the decrease in fertiliser prices is part of the Rs20 billion package announced by the government during the 2015-16 budget.

The government will take long-term measures to reduce the cost of production, he added.

In reply to a question, the minister said the government has no intention of increasing the support price for wheat this season.

Rather it will focus on reducing the cost of production in view of wheat price in the international market, he added. Bosan said the Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) will meet on October 21 to set targets for Rabi crops including wheat, and review the performance of kharif crops.

Final estimates of three major kharif crops, sugarcane, cotton and rice, will be presented to the FCA as well as the procurement plans for these crops.

In addition, the FCA will review the performance of vegetable crops and the research and development projects for the fiscal year 2015-16.