National Fertilizer Development Centre

NFDC

The National Fertilizer Development Centre (NFDC) was set up by the Government of Pakistan (Planning and Development Division) in December 1977. After a brief period of aid from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) it has been assisted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations with Trust Funds from Norway (NORAD) upto May 1981,  and from the Netherlands upto December, 1997. 

NFDC is a multidisciplinary research and development organization at the federal level that integrates disciplines such as economic planning, pricing and subsidies, privatization and deregulation,  production and imports, marketing and credit, agronomy and soil science, research, extension and training. 

In co-operation with the various federal and provincial institutions, NFDC studies all fertilizer-related problems from the supply source to the farmers' fields, with a view to helping in the formulation of Government policies and their implementation and to give support to other institutions. 

WHY NFDC  

Bottlenecks in fertilizer imports and production, trade and use, agronomic efficiency and impact on crop productivity are increasing both in frequency and intensity due to increasing fertilizer use consumption in Pakistan crossed the 10,000 nutrient tonnes mark in 1956, the 100,000 nutrient tonnes mark in 1966-67, 1,000,000 nutrient tonnes mark in 1979-80, 2,000,000 nutrient tonnes mark in 1992-93 and touching 3,222,000 nutrient tonnes mark in 2004-05.  Per hectare average fertilizer use for cropped area increased from about 5 kg in 1964-65 to about 55 kg in 1981-82 and 147 kg in 2003-04. 

The existence in Pakistan of a number of agencies and organizations, working on different aspects of fertilizer production, trade, research, extension and use made it desirable for the Government to have neutral institution with the objectives to provide a common platform. 

OBJECTIVES  

The current broad objectives of  NFDC are: 

	To provide objective and comprehensive advice to all levels of Government, to the fertilizer industry and to other parties as may be relevant, on all matters related in any way to the fertilizer sector of Pakistan and its relations with the international fertilizer community.
	To conduct research studies on physical and economic returns on fertilizer use to farmers, impact of input prices on crop output, deregulation/privatization of fertilizer in order to  facilitate policy decisions.
	To conduct fertilizer use surveys at farm level to monitor fertilizer use by crops, impact on crop productivity, crop responses to fertilizers and problems faced by farmers.
	To monitor the status of all aspects of fertilizer use development: production, imports, consumption, prices and evaluate situation critically for the information and action by the concerned organizations, so that timely actions can be taken to effect improvement.
	To promote efficient, balanced and environmental friendly integrated use of plant nutrients for sustainable agricultural growth.
	To help upgrade the capability of fertilizer research, extension and marketing personnel in the transfer of fertilizer technology.
	To provide a neutral common platform to resolve contentious issues in fertilizer sector.
	To launch new initiatives in soil fertility and plant nutrition management.

PROGRAMMES AND ACTIVITIES  

NFDC's programmes are classified as core activities, special programmes and areas of special interest and collaboration. 

Core activities:  Constitute those regarded as the central functions of NFDC. These include data base; demand forecasting; intenrational prices; fertilizer situation reviews; (monthly, seasonal and annual); special technical notes; fertilizer use surves; crop responses; fertilizer bibliographic updates; fertilizer esearch reviews, training courses contributions to and participation in national and international fora and computerized library documentation and retrival of literature. 

Special programmes and areas of special interest and collaboration include: 

	Studies on privatisation in the fertilizer sector
	Fertilizer use development programmes, e.g. integrated crop nutrition, balanced fertilization and fertilizer use efficiency
	Fertilization in horticulture (e.g. fertigation, investigations with new products and application techniques)
	Fertilizer advisory services
	Promotion of blends/compounds
	Assist soil testing laboratories
	Establishment of a regional centre on pant nutrition management and development.

ORGANIZATIONAL LINKS  

National:

NFDC works in close collaboration with the Federal Ministries and their executive arms concerned with fertilizer use development. The most important among these are: Ministry of Food and Agriculture,  its  Fertilizer Cell; Department of Plant Protection; Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Ministry of Finance and the credit institutions; Ministry of Industries and Production and the National Fertilizer Corporation operating public sector fertilizer plants, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, etc. 

At the provincial level NFDC maintains liaison with the Provincial Governments, agricultural universities and research institutes, soil testing and soil fertility laboratories and extension and training organizations, pesticides associations, importers and distributors, and testing laboratories, etc. 

NFDC works in close liason with private sector fertilizer producers and marrketing agencies. Some joint activities are being planned. NFDC is also represented on various committees at national and provincial level. 

International: 

	Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of United Nations : NFDC since its establishment is getting financial as well as technical support from FAO. NFDC is regarded as a pioneer institution of the FAO Plant Nutrition Management Service, Land and Water Development Division and is termed as a `Centre of Excellence’.
	Agricultural Economics Institute (LEI), Hague, Netherlands : NFDC and LEI, Hague, the Netherlands have signed a memorandum of understanding for technical co-operation between both the organizations.
	Fertilizer Advisory Development and Information Network for Asia and the Pacific (FADINAP) - ESCAP, Bangkok : NFDC is a technical liaison office for FADINAP and jointly had carried a number of studies, training programmes and information management/dissemination in the country.
	International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA) - Paris, France : NFDC is a member of IFA and shares international statistics of fertilizer consumption, production and trade in addition to studies on Plant Nutrition Management
	World Phosphate Institute (IMPHOS), Morocco : World Phosphate Institute and NFDC work jointly in promotional activities particularly on balanced fertilization, establishment of soil test crop response calibration studies.
	International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC), Muscle Shoals, USA : NFDC has close technical collaboration with IFDC in human resources development and exchange of technical know-how.
	Egyptian Fertilizer Development Centre (EFDC), Egypt : NFDC has signed a MOU with EFDC for technical co-operation in the field of fertilizer use development activities.
	International Potash Institute (IPI), Switzerland : IPI and NFDC has close technical collaboration and some joint studies on potash use development are carried out in the country.
	Other International Institutions : NFDC shares information with number of national/regional institutions such as : Fertilizer Association of India, Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority, Manila, Philippines, National Fertilizer Secretariat, Sri Lanka and Arab Fertilizer Association, Cairo.