Growing cooperation: Govt revives boards to address farmers’ problems

A meeting has been called on September 2 to determine prices.


Our Correspondent August 30, 2014

HYDERABAD:


The Sindh government announced the revival of district agriculture facility boards to enable greater cooperation with farmers at a meeting with representatives of the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) on Saturday.


“The boards will help address the problems of agriculturalists at the local level,” provincial agriculture secretary Saqib Soomro assured the representatives.

Farmers have repeatedly been complaining against the sale of substandard or expensive agricultural inputs, such as pesticides, fertilisers and seeds.

The boards, which will comprise district level officials different agricultural departments, the police and representatives of the growers, will take prompt action to address these complaints.

The government will address the farmers’ concerns about the fixation of procurement rates of cotton and rice crops, said Soomro, adding that a meeting has been called on September 2 to decide the price and immediately notify the farmers.

Growers from Ghotki complained during the meeting about the illegal inter-province sale of sugarcane crops, which harms the local producers. Soomro assured them that the government would bind the sugar mills against purchasing cane from Punjab.

Meanwhile, irrigation secretary Babur Effendi said that local officials will hold monthly meetings at the offices of farmers’ representatives to hear their problems. Responding to complaints about water shortages in Umerkot and Mirpurkhas districts, Effendi said that a monitoring committee would be formed to address the issue under the Mirpurkhas commissioner.

SCA president Dr Nadeem Qamar welcomed the initiatives taken by the agriculture and irrigation departments to increase coordination with the farmers.

He pointed out that delays in solving problems not only affect the farmers but also the crop yield and ultimately the market price of the crops. Growers from Sukkur, Sanghar, Hyderabad and Ghotki districts joined the meeting, which was held in Karachi, through a
video link.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 31st, 2014.

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