THE Urea Fertilizer Purchasing and Distribution Steering Committee recommended importing licences of over 1.5 million tonnes of fertilizer and 27,490 tonnes of pesticide in the nine months of the current financial year 2025-2026 beginning 1 April.
The Union Minister for the Cooperatives and Rural Development attended the work coordination meeting held on 3 December. The objectives of the meeting is to import agricultural inputs and set reference prices.
Additionally, 1.6 million tonnes of fertilizer and 32,000 tonnes of pesticide are planned to be imported in the current financial year 2025-2026.
The Steering Committee recommended that business companies seek import licences for over 1.5 million tonnes of fertilizer and over 27,490 tonnes of pesticide during the April-December period. The Ministry of Commerce also endorsed imports of fertilizer and pesticide after screening applications in line with rules and regulations.
The Union Minister addressed the distribution of fertilizer to growers to meet cultivation input targets in August and September under the harvest loan scheme, granting licences to importing companies and helping them get access to foreign currencies, asking the companies to bring them in as soon as possible during the period of the validity of the licence. The committee’s members are also asked to monitor the shops if they stick to the set reference prices, adding some transportation fee and the profit margin and if they manipulate the market with stockpiles. The Union Minister also urged the officials and institutions concerned to ensure fair prices and the quality of the fertilizer.
The committee’s secretary, Permanent Secretary U Khant Zaw, presented the import volume that the committee granted a recommendation in October-December and the distribution of fertilizer in September under the harvest loan scheme. Representatives of the Myanmar Fertilizer, Seed and Pesticide Entrepreneurs Association also explained the distribution and sales of the urea fertilizer and pesticide. — NN/ KK
