Agriculture sector: ‘Government should make agriculture its first priority’

PPP leader says APC recommendations should be implemented

LAHORE:

The government has not done anything to implement recommendations of the All Parties Conference (APC) convened by the Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI) in Islamabad, Pakistan Peoples Party central Punjab president Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo said on Wednesday.

In a statement, Wattoo said that the recommendations were the voice of the farmers’ community. “They were unanimously adopted by all political parties represented in parliament, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N),” he said.

He said that the government should declare an ‘agriculture emergency’ in the country as demanded at the APC.

“The PPP will take up this matter to the Provincial Assemblies, the National Assembly and Senate. We want the implementation of all APC recommendations. The PPP is the only representative party of farmers,” he said.

He demanded that the government provide electricity subsidy for tube wells, fix support prices for all agricultural commodities and abolish duties on their export. “Moreover, the government should purchase the entire potato crop from farmers,” he said. He said that the government’s first priority should be the agriculture sector.

“The government does not understand the link between the development of agriculture and the development of the country. A strong agriculture sector means two thirds of the country’s population is prospering,” he said.

He said that a consensus had emerged among the farmers’ community that the PML-N was bent on destroying agriculture.

“Pakistan’s industrial sector is largely agro-based. The textile industry contributes 60 per cent to the exports. Its basic raw material is provided by the agricultural sector in the form of cotton,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3^rd, 2016.