Centre should follow the Sindh government's pro-farmer policy, said Sindh Agriculture Minister Ismail Rahoo stating that the provincial government is offering Rs200 more than the federal government to growers for 40 kilogrammes (maund) of wheat.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) government in centre, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is paying Rs1,800 per maund to growers whereas, under Pakistan Peoples Party Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's pro-farmers policy the government of Sindh is purchasing wheat at the rate of Rs2,000 per maund.
Rahoo said that cost of agriculture inputs, including seed, fertilisers, pesticides, electricity, diesel and others, has increased substantially during the current regime and the runaway inflation has badly affected the farmers.
Read: Minister censures Centre over agriculture policies
He said that the federal government has made false claims that the farmers have collected Rs680 billion extra for their crops, in fact, the federal government has deliberately avoided to increase the wheat prices for the farmers in order to make trillions of rupees through wheat and flour like the last year.
Rahoo said that Imran Khan's government created two wheat crises last year by making artificial shortage of wheat and these crises are still a mystery for the people.
According to Rahoo, Punjab's two months consumption of wheat is 2.245 million tonnes. The golden grain was harvested in Punjab in May but there was none left in the province by July, he said quoting official figures.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2021.
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