China, the world's biggest grain grower, announced a three-month campaign to tighten controls on fertilizer prices and supplies to ensure they remain stable, the top economic planner said.

From the end of June through September, authorities will monitor fertilizer producers and traders to make sure they don't alter prices without authorization, the National Development and Reform Commission said yesterday.

Rising costs of fuel and fertilizer are threatening China's farm industry, complicating efforts to ease inflation, which is near a 12-year high. In response, the government has fixed fertilizer prices, halted exports and ordered stockpiles to be built up.

The crackdown aims to "stabilize prices, fight illegal pricing behavior, and protect farming interests," the commission told Bloomberg News. Officials will also step up enforcement of policies that subsidize the costs of natural gas, electricity, and transportation for fertilizer producers and traders, it said.

The government will make its policies on farming expenses more "transparent," and encourage farmers to use a hotline to report cases of "illegal pricing," it said.

China exempted fertilizer producers and farmers from a rise in electricity prices last week. Heilongjiang Province, China's top corn and soybean grower, fixed prices of urea at 2,200 yuan (US$320) a ton June 24-July 31, Xinhua news agency reported.

(Shanghai Daily June 25, 2008)