HYDERABAD: Growers’ representatives have urged the Sindh government to ban the imports of Indian vegetables, ensure transparency in the distribution of subsidised agricultural implements and link the province’s fruit and vegetable sector with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

A joint delegation of farmers from the Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB), Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) and Sindh Abadgar Ittehad (SAI) called on Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in Karachi on Tuesday to share its proposals with the provincial chief executive.

The delegation called for banning the imports of vegetables from India, noting that its agriculture sector is highly subsidised.

SAB Vice President Mahmood Nawaz Shah said the cost of the drip system, which the government is installing on a cost-sharing basis, is too high for farmers. He said private companies are installing the system at the cost of Rs150,000 per acre, although the Sindh government is recovering Rs120,000 per acre citing 40 per cent cost as farmer’s share. He said the scheme needs to be rationalised.

He said the tractor scheme was plagued by financial irregularities, which prompted the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to launch a probe. He said the distribution of 63 solar-powered tube wells is insufficient and should be increased. He urged the chief minister to take notice of the drastic decline in sunflower production, which once stood at 260,000 hectares but has now reduced to 60,000ha. He said sunflower production can help reduce the country’s import bill. He proposed that the Sindh government should announce a support price for sunflower.

Mr Shah said the province’s fruit and vegetable sector can increase exports to Central Asian, Russian and Eastern European markets. He said agriculture credit off-take in Sindh is dismal compared with that in Punjab.

He blamed it on the Board of Revenue’s tedious documentation process, which discouraged farmers from applying for agriculture credit. He said farmers will readily apply for loans if the Sindh government streamlines this process.

Mr Shah observed that the Sindh government should exempt the income of Rs500,000 from income tax instead of Rs80,000.

SAB President Abdul Majeed Nizamani said climate change is looming large and the government must tackle it while providing growers with weather-related information.

SCA General Secretary Nabi Bux Sathio sought an increase in the budget for the agriculture sector. He said it was Rs54 billion in Punjab against Rs5.8bn in Sindh.

Mr Sathio said the PPP government launched the tractor scheme promising a subsidy of Rs300,000 in 2009. This remained unchanged while the cost of Belarus tractor increased to Rs1.6 million from Rs580,000.

He said fake seeds are being sold in the name of hybrid technology. He said the Sindh government should give 2,000 subsidised solar-powered tube wells and laser land levellers to ensure efficient use of irrigation water.

Nawab Zubair Talpur of the SAI called for interest-free loans for farmers having landholdings of 25 acres or less. He said farmers should be provided with agricultural implements on easy monthly instalments. Mr Talpur said tax recovery from tail-end growers should be suspended in view of a persistent water shortage.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2017