Sindh Agriculture And Research Council Rejects Agriculture Policy Announced By Sindh Govt

The Sindh Agriculture and Research Council (SARC), a farmers' lobbying group, has rejected the Sindh Government's recently announced agriculture policy as a deception to the small and medium farmers.

HYDERABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Apr, 2018 ) :The Sindh Agriculture and Research Council (SARC), a farmers' lobbying group, has rejected the Sindh Government's recently announced agriculture policy as a deception to the small and medium farmers.

At a press conference at Hyderabad Press Club on Thursday the council's head advocate Ali Palh claimed that the stakeholders specially the small and medium farmers were not consulted for the policy."The policy has been made to get loans from the World Bank and other international financial institutions," he alleged.

He argued that if the provincial government of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had been sincere with the agriculture sector it would have first activated the dysfunctional Agriculture Research Department."If the provincial government was sincere it would also not have allowed the sugarcane and wheat crisis to repeatedly occur during last 9 years, sale of illegal and substandard seed and inputs would have been curbed, the shortage of water supply and corruption in the Irrigation Department would have been dealt with," he added.

Palh went on to add that around 8 years have passed since the enactment of 18th constitutional amendment which further decentralized agriculture, allowing all provinces to form their policies.

He claimed that $2 million of World Bank's loan besides an unspecified sum of money from $76 million World Bank's loan for Sindh Agriculture Growth Project were spent over making the policy.Giving reference of the ongoing wheat harvest and sell of the crop, the SARC's head blamed the provincial government for failing to curb the exploitation of wheat farmers.He said the Sindh Government was purchasing 1.4 million ton wheat from the farmers at Rs1,300 per 40 kilograms but the traders in the open market were exploiting the farmers by paying Rs1,000 to Rs1,100 for the crop.

Palh also gave example of the sugarcane crisis pointing out that against the government fixed rate of Rs182 per 40 kg the farmers were paid only Rs160 rate due to weak enforcement of the government. He reiterated that the new agriculture policy would not resolve problems of the small and medium farmers.The office bearers of SARC were present on the occasion.