Report Fake Fertiliser or Pesticide in Punjab: Helpline, Lab Tests and Penalties

If you think a dealer sold you fake, adulterated, expired or underweight fertiliser or pesticide in Punjab, call the Agriculture Department helpline, 0800-17000, and report it to your local agriculture extension office. Keep the receipt and the rest of the product. Under the Punjab Fertilizers Control Act 2025, selling fake fertiliser can mean two to four years in jail.

A farmer often learns a spray was fake only when the bollworm is still eating the cotton a week later. By then the money and the crop are both gone. We read the two Punjab laws that cover this, the Fertilizers Control Act 2025 and the Agricultural Pesticides Ordinance 1971, and the Agriculture Department's lab pages, to set out how to report it and get the product tested.

Report fake fertiliser or pesticide to 0800-17000

Call the Punjab Agriculture Department's helpline, 0800-17000, then go to your tehsil or district agriculture extension office. Under the 2025 Act, the Assistant Director Agriculture (Extension) is the Assistant Controller for the tehsil, and the Deputy Director is the Deputy Controller for the district. They can take samples and act against dealers.

1. Stop using the product. Keep the bag, bottle or packet with the label, batch number and seal.
2. Keep the receipt. The 2025 Act says every dealer must give a receipt for each fertiliser sale, with your full address on it.
3. Write down the dealer's name, shop address and licence number if it is displayed, plus the date you bought it.
4. Call 0800-17000 and note the complaint number.
5. Visit the extension office. Ask the Deputy or Assistant Director Agriculture (Extension) to draw a sample from the dealer's stock.
6. Follow up in writing. A short written application with copies of the receipt and photos is hard to ignore.

Do not try to settle it only with the dealer. A dealer who replaces your one bag keeps selling the rest of the batch to your neighbours.

Signs your fertiliser or spray may be fake

Warning signs include a price far below the market, a torn or resealed bag, a smudged label, no batch number or expiry date, an underweight bag, and a dealer who will not give a receipt. Only a lab test proves it, so report first.

The 2025 Act bans selling fertiliser that is fake, adulterated, substandard, unlicensed, misbranded, mislabelled, underweight, expired or tampered with. For fertiliser, the Act defines the main words by how much nutrient is really in the bag:

Selling above the price printed on the bag is also an offence under the Act. If you paid more than the bag shows, say so in the complaint. Our check of DAP and urea prices shows what a bag normally costs, which helps you spot a price that is too good to be true.

Get a pesticide or fertiliser tested at a government lab

The Pesticides Ordinance lets anyone who bought a pesticide apply to a Government Analyst for a test, on a set fee. Punjab's four pesticide quality control labs say they test farmers' own pesticides at subsidised government rates. We could not find those rates published online.

The labs listed by the Agriculture Department are:

• Faisalabad: Pesticides Quality Control Laboratory, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Jhang Road, 041-9200813.
• Kala Shah Kaku: at the Rice Research Institute, GT Road, 0306-5059747.
• Multan: Government Agricultural Farm, Old Shujabad Road, 061-9200321.
• Bahawalpur: Gulberg Road, Model Town-A, 062-9255278.

For fertiliser, the Provincial Reference Fertilizer Testing Laboratory is at Raiwind, 042-35394499. When an officer takes a fertiliser sample, the Act says it is split three ways: one part to the Government Fertilizer Testing Laboratory, one to the Raiwind reference lab, and one handed back to the person it was taken from. If the government lab finds it fake or adulterated, the Act says an FIR is to be lodged.

Your own test result helps your complaint. But a dealer is prosecuted on the sample an officer takes from the shop, which is why reporting matters more than testing alone. The district soil testing labs also tell you whether the crop failed for another reason, such as salt or poor soil.

Punjab's penalties for fake fertiliser and pesticide

Selling fake fertiliser is punished with two to four years in jail and a fine of Rs 1 million to Rs 2 million for a first offence. Adulterated pesticide carries one to three years and a Rs 500,000 fine. Repeat offences carry more.

The fake and adulterated fertiliser offences are cognizable, meaning police can register a case. Pesticide offences are cognizable and non-bailable, but police can only register a case on an Inspector's complaint. That is why the extension office is your route in, not the police station.

If nobody acts on your complaint

Ask for the complaint number and the officer's name. If the extension office does not take a sample, write to the Deputy Director Agriculture (Extension) of your district, then use the Pakistan Citizen's Portal. For your own loss, the consumer court is a separate route.

The 2025 Act gives appeals up the chain, from an Assistant Controller to a Deputy Controller and on to the Additional Secretary (Task Force). A complaint on the Pakistan Citizen's Portal goes to the department and is tracked. If you want money back for a failed crop, a consumer court complaint is the route for your own loss, alongside the criminal case against the dealer.

Buy from licensed dealers, keep every receipt and keep a sample of what you used until harvest. That habit costs nothing.

Common questions

What is the Punjab Agriculture Department helpline?

0800-17000. It is listed on the Agriculture Department's website, agripunjab.gov.pk.

Can I get my pesticide tested myself?

Yes. The Agricultural Pesticides Ordinance lets a buyer apply to a Government Analyst. Punjab's labs test farmers' pesticides at subsidised government rates.

What is the jail term for selling fake fertiliser in Punjab?

Two to four years and a Rs 1 million to Rs 2 million fine for a first offence, under the Punjab Fertilizers Control Act 2025.

Must a dealer give me a receipt for fertiliser?

Yes. Section 19 of the 2025 Act says a receipt must be issued on each sale, with the buyer's full address.

Can I go straight to the police?

For pesticide, police can only register a case on an Inspector's complaint. For fertiliser, report to the agriculture office first so a sample is taken properly.

Is the old Fertilizers Control Order 1973 still in force?

No. The Punjab Fertilizers Control Act 2025 repealed it. The Act was published in the Punjab Gazette on 29 May 2025 and came into force at once.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked on 1 October 2026. We read the Punjab Fertilizers Control Act 2025 on the Punjab Code for the banned sales, the receipt rule, sampling, penalties, cognizance, appeals and the repeal of the 1973 Order. We read the Agricultural Pesticides Ordinance 1971 as applied in Punjab for the buyer's right to a test and the penalties. We read the Agriculture Department's research services page on agripunjab.gov.pk for the pesticide and fertiliser labs, and its home page for the 0800-17000 helpline. Lab fees for farmers are not published. We did not test the helpline.