Farmers announce protest against agri taxes

Say levies threaten food security of Pakistan

LAHORE:

Farmers have decided to protest against the withdrawal of tax exemptions in the mini budget as well as imposition of additional levies which have increased their cost of production by a manifold. According to the Pakistan Kissan Ittehad, they have decided to observe a protest on February 14.

In a statement on Monday, the Pakistan Kissan Ittehad stated that withdrawal of sales tax and additional duty exemption on seeds, high rates of electricity billing for tubewell and manifold increase in diesel and fertiliser prices had hiked the cost of production for farmers.

“The farming community of Pakistan feels that the leadership’s decision to implement demands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the shape of withdrawal of tax exemptions from basic agricultural inputs will make farming uneconomical,” it said.

The farmer group expressed concern that the withdrawal of general sales tax exemptions on seeds will hike the price of traditional seeds like wheat, cotton and local rice and value-added imported and hybrid seeds of maize, rice, sunflower, vegetables and fodders.

According to it, this unwarranted step of the government will lift the food import bill further. They added that Pakistan’s food imports jumped 53% in 2020-21 to reach $8.35 billion.

“The withdrawal of sales tax exemptions from all types of seeds will affect crop production, livestock and poultry sector, fish farming and the livelihood of the farmers,” the statement said.

Resultantly, the country’s economy and food security situation would be severely threatened.

They added that such steps from the government were discouraging for the stakeholders of the agriculture sector.

Instead, the association urged the government to formulate farmer-friendly policies to motivate the already stressed farmers.

“The PKI has chalked out its plan to protest at different districts in Punjab and then move towards Islamabad,” the statement added.

It held the view that farmers should not be forced to pay high taxes on seeds and lofty electricity and diesel charges as per the demands of IMF because they had not directly benefited from the loan programme.

The farmer group stressed that livestock was an important part of agriculture sector and increase of prices of fodder seeds, benola and benola cake will discourage stakeholders of this segment as well.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2022.

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