Crackdown ordered on substandard fertilisers, pesticides by Sindh PAC

KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has ordered a province-wide operation against dealers involved in selling adulterated and substandard fertilisers and pesticides, directing the authorities to seal their shops and initiate strict legal proceedings.

The instructions were issued during a PAC meeting chaired by Nisar Khuhro, where audit paras concerning the Agriculture Department and the Supply & Prices Department for 2024 and 2025 came under review.

The committee voiced serious concern over the Agriculture Department’s quality control mechanism during the meeting. Officials told the PAC that inspection teams had collected 563 fertiliser samples and 581 pesticide samples for testing.

According to the briefing given to the committee, laboratory examination found 252 of those samples to be substandard or adulterated. Following the test results, cases were registered against 22 dealers working in 23 districts of Sindh.

The PAC, however, sought full details of the dealers and directed the department to make their names public. The committee also asked why the shops of those dealers had not been sealed even though legal action had already been started against them.

During the meeting, the Agriculture Department informed the committee that it did not have the legal powers required to seal shops. The explanation did not satisfy the committee chairman, who questioned why tougher action, including sealing premises, was not being taken when the department had the authority to register FIRs and suspend licences.

Call for district-level testing facilities

The committee also instructed the Agriculture Department to prepare a draft bill for the establishment of fertiliser and pesticide testing laboratories in every district of Sindh.

Nisar Khuhro said district-level laboratories were needed to ensure timely testing and to stop the circulation of substandard agricultural inputs.

The PAC’s directions came as it reviewed the department’s oversight and enforcement arrangements linked to agricultural supplies. The committee’s discussion focused on the handling of adulterated and low-quality fertilisers and pesticides, as well as the steps taken after laboratory testing identified problematic samples.

Under the committee’s orders, the authorities are now expected to move against dealers found involved in the sale of such products, while the Agriculture Department has also been asked to work on legislation aimed at expanding testing capacity across Sindh.

The PAC maintained that stronger enforcement and quicker testing were necessary to prevent substandard farm inputs from reaching growers across the province.