The document discusses the fertilizer industry in Pakistan. It notes that most agricultural regions have soil lacking in nitrogen, requiring fertilizers for high crop yields. The majority of fertilizer factories are located in Punjab and northern Sindh due to access to natural gas supplies, infrastructure like roads and railways, a large labor force, and proximity to agricultural regions with high fertilizer demand. However, the industry also causes environmental and economic problems like air and water pollution, high energy use increasing fuel import costs, and reliance on fertilizer imports since domestic production does not meet demand.

1. Fertilizer industry
Value of Fertilizers
Most of the agriculturally important regions have soils
lacking in nitrogenous matter – an essential component
required for healthy and high yields
• High yielding variety (HYV) seeds use a lot of
nutrients and some bulky crops like sugar cane
exhaust soils of nutrients
• To solve these problems and to maintain and
increase high yields especially of cash cops are
fertilizers essential to Pakistan.
• The increase in water logging and salinity has also
increased fertilizer use as farmers want to maintain
and even increase crop production in reduced area.

2. Sindh - 92Kg per hectare Balochistan – 15Kg per hectare
Punjab – 61Kg per hectare NWFP – 37 Kg per hectare

3. Uses of Fertilizers

4. Factors for fertilizer industry ‘s distribution
1. These areas are on generally flat lands of plain areas which enabledeasy
constructionof factories due tomore accessibility. There was alsoproper
infrastructure because of the same reason.
2. Nitrogenandmineral rocks are available virtually everywhereinPakistanbut
natural gas isn’t. This is why these factoriesare situatedeither near gas fields
themselves(inupper Sindh) or are linkedto natural gas by pipelines. Their site
is also close tosources of water. Since raw materials were readily available,
their transportationcostswere reducedandfertilizerscouldbe produced
steadily.
3. These factories are majorly situatedinareas withhighpopulation density
meaning cheaplabor is available. Althougha capital intensive large-scale
industry, fertilizer industry still requires labor for various tasks (e.g. loading and
unloading raw materials andfertilizer bags)
4. Being a large-scale industry, it is largely mechanizedfor whichpower supply is
essential. These factoriesare locatedalong national gridand near thermal
power plants (those inPunjab and Sindh) and the factory in Haripur is near
Tarbela HEP plant.
5. These factories are locatedwhere thereis aproper infrastructure. There is a
dense road and railway network near the factories. This enables rawmaterials
to be rapidly suppliedtothemand fertilizers tobe suppliedfromthem.
6. These factories are situatedinthe middle of agriculturally important regions
especially for cashcrops like wheat, cotton, sugar-cane and rice. To increase
their yields fertilizers are essential andan increase infertilizer use has resulted
in higher output production.

5. PROBLEMS DUETO INDUSTRY:
On ENVIRONMENT:
1. Deforestation had to be carried out to establish factories.
2.Eutrophication occurs when nitrate fertilizers leech into soil and causealgal
blooms which deplete rivers of oxygen. This pollutes water and fish die.
3.Pollutant gases such as oxides of carbon and nitrogen are emitted during
fertilizer preparation which causeair pollution.
ON PEOPLE:
1. Drinking water into which nitrates have leeched is toxic at high concentrations-
results in several disorders.
2. Ammonia can leak into air. It can cause respiratory disorders.
3. Fertilizers are expensiveto buy and only large landowners can useit
sufficiently.
ON ECONOMY:
1. It uses a lot of power and since most of power generated in Pakistan is
thermal, it indirectly increases petroleum import bills.
2. Fertilizers have to be imported as Pakistan is not self sufficient in fertilizer
production. This further burdens the economy.
lot of power and since most of power generated in Pakistan is
thermal, it indirectly increases petroleumimport bills.
- Fertilizers have to be imported as Pakistan is not
1)and since most of power generated in Pakistan is
thermal, it ia) Explainwhy most fertilizerfactories
are in the Punjab and NorthernAreas of Sindh?
[4]
- Fertilizers have to be imported as Pakistan is not

6. It uses a lot of power and since most of power generated
is thermal, it indirectly increases petroleumimport bills.
- Fertilizers have to be imported as Pakistan is not self It
uses a lot of power and since most of power generated in
Pakistan is thermal, it indirectly increases petroleum
import bills.
- Fertilizers have to be imported as Pakistan is not self in
fertilizer production. This further burdensthe economy.
- It uses a lot of power and since most of power generated
- Fertilizers have to be imported as Pakistan is not s.
All types of fertilizers formed are palletized
• They are packed in plastic bags
• Fertilizer bags are transported via road (on
trucks and lorries) and via railway to
agricultural lands
• Farmers manually or mechanically spread it
out on lands after ploughing and before
planting the seeds
• Palletized fertilizer spreads to a large area