Farmers call for halt in tomato import

Farmers have requested the government to halt the import of tomatoes in a bid to protect local producers of the country.

“The import of tomatoes has continued unabated during the last few months,” Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) Senior Vice President Mehmood Nawaz Shah told The Express Tribune.

“The harvest season of tomatoes in Pakistan is in full swing and production is increasing day after day.” He added that due to the high amount of output, prices in the local market have dropped to an extent that it is becoming unviable for growers to keep producing tomatoes.

The decline in prices is still persisting therefore growers would like to request the government to stop import of the commodity so that farmers could continue producing tomatoes, read a letter sent by the Sindh Abadgar Board to the Ministry of National Food Security and Research. Growers also requested the ministry to assess the ever increasing cost of production, which is currently highest in the region.

“Measures should be taken to earn foreign exchange through export of tomatoes to encourage domestic production while imports need to be curbed to limit foreign exchange outflow,” stated the letter. According to the official, food security could only be sustained through viable domestic production. Tomatoes are priced at Rs40 per kg in markets other than Karachi, said Shah. He added that the crop was harvested round the year unlike wheat or cotton, which were planted as per the circumstances.

Presently, tomatoes have been harvested on more than 50,000 acres and the area under the crop keeps on expanding and contracting each month. “We support Sindh Abadgar board on this issue,” said Pakistan Kissan Ittehad Secretary General Mian Umair Masood. He added that the government of Pakistan prioritises industry and not the farmers.

He recalled that Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood imposed a ban on export of jaggery - also known as Gur in Pakistan - but at the same time export of sugar persisted. Last year, the government gave Rs11 billion in subsidy for export of sugar but jaggery manufacturers, who were mainly farmers, were not allowed to export the produce.

“Food security is posing new challenges for the government of Pakistan,” said Cereal Association of Pakistan Chairman Muzzammil Chappal. “The outgoing year 2020 was very critical for the entire food supply chain as output of major crops including wheat and sugarcane was recorded lower than expectations and it was insufficient to even meet the country’s demand.”

The dismal output of wheat and sugarcane forced the government to spend foreign exchange worth millions of dollars on import of the two edible products from across the world to meet the domestic demand, he said. Heavy rains and unfavourable weather damaged the standing crop and resultantly, wheat production clocked-in at 25 million tons and missed the annual production target of 27 million tons, he said.

“Higher input cost, climate change, unavailability of quality seeds, unclear government policies and absence of research and development are major reasons behind the unsatisfactory performance of the agriculture sector.” He was of the view that in order to ensure food security, the government must initiate dialogue with all stakeholders to devise a long-term policy for the agriculture sector.