BAHAWALPUR: The farming community in and around Bahawalpur is reportedly facing acute shortage of urea fertiliser in the district.

According to the Kissan Ittehad office-bearers, the dealers and retailers were hoarding stocks of urea to earn illegal profits as the fertiliser was presently needed for the cotton crop nearing its fruition.

Kissan Ittehad Chaudhry district head Abdul Matlab alleged that the dealers were involved in black-marketing of urea fertiliser. He said some dealers inthe district were selling a bag of urea at the rate of Rs3,400 against the official rate of Rs2,950 per bag. He feared that with the unavailability of urea at the fixed government rate, the cotton and sugarcane crops would be adversely affected.

Mr Matlab urged the district administration and agriculture officials to take action against the dealers who were hoarding the fertiliser or overcharging on it to ensure its availability at official price in the open market.

PROBE: Lodhran Deputy Commissioner Abdul Rauf Mahar has ordered an inquiry into several canal breaches inthe district.

According to an official announcement, the deputy commissioner (DC) has appointed Lodhran Assistant Commissioner (AC) Ashraf Saleh as the inquiry officer and asked him to expose the elements involved in the breaches which had damaged crops.

It may be mentioned that during the last week, there were several breaches in a number of canals in the district where crops were damaged and the population had to be evacuated from the villages submerged in canal water.

URBAN FARMING: Islamia University Bahawalpur (IUB)Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Athar Mahboob says urban farming could play an important role in food security and poverty alleviation.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Centre for Urban Farming here, he said being the agricultural region, Bahawalpur could easily deal with the challenges of food security. He said the IUB was the pioneer in agricultural research and its research projects were aligned with national priorities and needs.

Dr Mahboob observed that the IUB could play an effective role in the establishment of urban farming and promotingsustainable agriculture.

On this occasion, Organic Pakistan Chairman Muhammad Nadeem Iqbal said urban farming centre could help citizens set up farms at home and teach them to grow their own food. He said through this type of farming, self-sufficiency in food could be achieved while the whole family could benefit from it.

He added that urban farming had been practised successfully for centuries and many countries around the world such as Cuba and Sri Lanka had successfully implemented it to ensure food security and increase employment opportunities.