Farmers' body demands govt write off loans

Seeks assistance for agricultural areas impacted by extreme weather conditions

LAHORE: The government should write-off interest-based loans disbursed to farmers by public and private financial institutions and extend monetary and other forms of assistance to the agricultural areas hit hard by the current heat wave, said Farmers Bureau of Pakistan (FBP) President Dr Zafar Hayyat.

While talking to journalists on Friday, he called upon the government to declare emergency in areas affected by extreme weather conditions and document the tentative losses incurred by farmers due to destruction of corn, cotton and rice crops.

He further urged the government to announce an incentive package enabling farmers to recover the losses and sow crops for the next season.

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"This should include per acre financial assistance, special subsidy on fertiliser and seeds and soft loans for the next Rabi season," he stressed.

He lamented that the entire agriculture sector of Pakistan was badly affected by the heat wave, which started around end of August and continued till mid-September 2019.

According to Hayyat, south Punjab was hit the worst throughout Pakistan.

He noted that cotton farmers were facing poor yield for the second successive year and during this year, the output was damaged far more than the previous year.

"Unfortunately, no scientific impact analysis has been done so far by the concerned departments and no measures or policies have been announced for the affected areas by the government," he said.

Apart from the heat wave, cotton crop also suffered from white fly infestation.

He pointed out that farmers tried aggressively to contain the outbreak but falling cotton prices coupled with absence of intervention from the government discouraged spending heavily on the ailing crop.

Hayyat expressed concern that lower cotton production would have devastating impacts on the country's cotton and textile industries and the overall economy of Pakistan in the coming days.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 26^th, 2019.

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