Farmers to get Rs40b benefit from higher support prices

Minister says support prices of wheat, sugarcane hiked keeping in view farmers' woes

LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided to increase the support price of wheat and sugarcane crops to safeguard the interest of farmers, said Punjab Minister for Trade and Industries Mian Aslam Iqbal.

New support prices will be Rs1,365 per maund and Rs190 per maund for wheat and sugarcane respectively, the minister announced at a press conference on Friday.

Iqbal highlighted that the farmers would get a huge benefit of more than Rs40 billion due to the increase in support prices.

"Support prices of wheat and sugarcane had not been enhanced in the past five years," he pointed out.

"The government has decided to lift the support prices of wheat and sugarcane keeping in view the difficulties faced by the farmers due to the hike in cost of production of these crops."

He pointed out that financial reward for the hard work of sugarcane farmers had been ensured and no one would be allowed to exploit them.

Last year, sugarcane crop worth Rs138 billion was procured from the farmers and Rs137.40 billion was given to them in payments, which was an important step.

The minister was of the view that the farmers would get a benefit of Rs29 billion due to the increase of Rs10 in the minimum sugarcane price. "Proper reward for the farmers' hard work will be ensured this year as well," he remarked.

The minister announced that soft loans would also be given to the farmers having less than 12.5 acres of land.

"A vigorous campaign has been launched against hoarding and profiteering and as a result, prices of essential items have stabilised. A bag of 20kg flour is available at Rs808 while sugar is priced at Rs70 per kg."

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30^th, 2019.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.