NA panel calls for insurance of major crops

The National Assembly Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research urged the government on Wednesday to develop an insurance policy for all the major crops and provide subsidy on fertilisers, pesticides, tractors and other machineries ancillary to the agriculture sector.

During a meeting chaired by Rao Muhammad Ajmal Khan, the committee received a briefing from the Kisan Ittehad Pakistan (KIP) chairman on the problems being faced by the farmers, said a press release issued by the National Assembly Secretariat.

The committee noted that the rates of fertilizers, pesticides and other machineries used in the agriculture sector had risen to an unprecedented level. It urged the government to take all possible steps to reduce the prices vis-à-vis give subsidy on these items to facilitate the farmers.

Taking notice of unnecessary taxes such as quarterly tariff amount, fuel adjustment, fuel consumption, Neelum Jehlum, etc, in the bills of agricultural tubewells’ electricity connections, the committee was of the view that these taxes were causing grave concern among the farmers.

Therefore, the committee urged the government to withdraw these taxes. The committee also recommended the government that the tariff for these connections should be Rs5.35 per unit. It also called for provision of quality seeds to the farmers to get maximum output.

The committee further directed the government to evolve a price mechanism to control the prices of crops with the help of all stakeholders. “Moreover, crop insurance policy should also be developed for all major crops in the country,” it said.

The committee directed the National Food Security ministry to obtain a copy of Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) report regarding wheat, flour and sugar crises from the quarters concerned and brief the members in the next meeting.

The committee viewed that apart from wheat and sugar, the crops of cotton, rice, corn, potato, mango, etc, should also be given due priority as these would help fetch a considerable amount of foreign exchange for the country.

The committee appreciated the government’s step towards mark-up subsidy at the rate of 10% in the loans outstanding and current to the small farmers.

The meeting was attended by National Assembly members Shaukat Ali, Murtaza Iqbal, Zain Qureshi, Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, Muhammad Shafiq, Riaz Muhammad Khan, Dr Nousheen Hamid, Ahmed Raza Maneka, Chuadhry Ashraf, Chuadhry Faqir Ahmed, Shahnaz Saleem Malik, Kamaluddin, Sheikh Fayyazud Din and officials of the Food Security ministry.