HYDERABAD: Sindh chief minister’s adviser on agriculture Manzoor Hussain Wassan has predicted that PTI chief Imran Khan will be arrested at all cost either this or next month.

Addressing a programme held for balloting to distribute laser land levellers and speaking to journalists at a local hotel organised by the Sindh Irrigated Agricultural Productivity Enhancement Project (SIAPEP) here on Monday, he said he believed that the elections of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab assemblies could not be held soon and the general elections in the country could be delayed by one year.

He said the elections for the provincial and national assemblies would be held in one go. Those elections could be held by October or after a delay of one year, he said.

Talking about his own political dreams he often discusses publicly, he said he foresaw so many things; people would experience things they had never experienced in the past 75 years. Nobody should have any wishful thinking that he/she would not be questioned as everyone would be held accountable, he added.

He said that every institution would be held accountable and the process would begin by the end of March or April. Anything could happen, he said.

Rejecting the cotton’s price of Rs8,500 per 40kg fixed by the federal government, he demanded that it should be enhanced up to Rs10,000 or Rs12,000. He sidestepped a question by a journalist about the alleged payment of ‘commission in the agriculture department’. He said he had done a lot of things about the department ever since he was entrusted with that responsibility.

Before he took over as adviser, the wheat’s support price was fixed at Rs1,800, but it was enhanced up to Rs4,000. He ensured that price considering the fact that if adequate price was not paid to farmers, they would lose interest in wheat cultivation, he said.

He said that when wheat was imported, considerable foreign exchange was lost, but there would be no loss in wheat production even after payment of Rs4,000 as support price.

Mr Wassan said sugar cane indicative price was also an issue and its price had been increased from Rs202 to Rs450 per 40kg so that there was no drop in sugar cane production. That was being done to ensure justice with farmers by paying them adequate price of their produce in the days of skyrocketing inflation, he observed.

He said the Sindh government had recommended Rs10,000 cotton support price to the federal government, but it had announced Rs8,500. He said Sindh had suffered serious damages in last year’s floods and added that if the price of cotton increased in the international market, it could be fixed at Rs15,000.

If the farmers were not paid adequate price, they would lose interest in crops cultivation. Pakistan was an agrarian economy, but it was importing agro commodities despite having a large agricultural landscape.

He said new technologies were introduced in the agriculture sector and more would follow. The Sindh agriculture department had contacted international forums in that regard, he said.

He urged farmers and growers to coordinate with the agriculture department and pointed out weaknesses in the department so that action could be taken timely.

The CM’s adviser informed that an inquiry report into funds utilisation about locus attack, including procurement of vehicles and medicines, would be submitted soon. He said an action would be taken against the officers found responsible for corruption.

He said that so far, 1,290 laser land levellers had been given under the SIAPEP which started in 2015 and another 500 would be given after transparent balloting. He said that more advanced technology would be introduced in the farm sector as it was essential for growth in the sector.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2023