The Sindh chief minister’s adviser on agriculture, Manzoor Wassan, said on Monday that the provincial government had rejected the centre’s decision of fixing Rs8,500 per maund (40kg) buying rate of cotton.
Addressing a balloting event for distribution of laser land levellers in Hyderabad, Wassan said the purchase price of cotton should be fixed between Rs10,000 to Rs12,000 per maund.
“The farmers will only cultivate a crop if they get a good price for it,” he observed, underlining the importance of the cotton crop for the export-oriented textile industry of Pakistan. He recalled that the cotton farmers of Sindh sustained colossal financial losses last year due to the torrential rains and floods. He argued that a good price for the crop is also necessary to incentivize such farmers.
He informed that the provincial government is spending Rs8.5 billion to provide financial support specifically to the wheat farmers who are being paid Rs5,000 per acre support. In the first phase the farmers cultivating up to 12 acres of land will receive the support while in the second phase the farmers growing wheat on 12 to 25 acres will be covered, he added.
Wassan defended the provincial government’s decision of paying Rs4,000 per maund to the wheat farmers for their crop, saying that the move will help to reduce reliance on the imported wheat which cost the country its depleting foreign exchange reserves.
He said the government has also increased the buying price of sugarcane to Rs450 while a minimum rate of Rs10,000 per maund for the cotton crop has also been recommended. According to him, 500 farmers are being given laser land levellers through the balloting.
Agriculture Secretary Aijaz Ahmed Mahesar apprised that some 1,388 teams are collecting the data of the rain and flood affected farmers who will be compensated by the government.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 21st, 2023.
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