New govt urged to regulate agri input prices

Growers' body says lack of regulation, missing research and development hurting agricultural economy

HYDERABAD:

As relentless inflation in the agricultural input prices and poor quality crop seeds continue to affect both the farmers and general public alike, the new government has been asked to take decisive steps for regulation and seed development.

The farmers at a meeting of the Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB), a farmers' lobbying group, in Hyderabad on Sunday pointed out how the lax regulation and missing research and development are hurting the agricultural economy and produce as well as the people.

"... this lack of governance is hurting growers, consumers and the economy," said a statement issued after the meeting which was presided by SAB's Mahmood Nawaz Shah. The growers while welcoming the new federal and provincial governments called for dedicated measures to address the highlighted issues.

Overpriced inputs

The agrarian community's representatives pointed out that the price of urea, which is the highest utilized fertilizer in Pakistan, is increasing every other month. A bag of urea was being sold at Rs2,900 12 months ago but at present its price is Rs4,649. However, the commodity is even not easily available at that soared price in a large number of areas in the province, they lamented.

The SAB estimates that between Rs60 to Rs70 billion over and above the MRP [maximum retail price] were profiteered from the growers in the last six months alone. The prices of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and potash fertilisers, pesticides, other nutrients and fuel are also going up day by day without any check and balance by the government, the farmers deplored.

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The board complained that the prices are jacked up overnight and the companies as well as their dealers make billions of rupees in unjustifiable income by selling the old stock at the new rates to the farmers.

The SAB's members said the artificial enhancement in the cost of the inputs consequently increased the cost of their produce and, thereby, contributed to the cycle of inflation which has been badly affecting the people of Pakistan. The SAB urged the government to strictly regulate the prices of urea and other inputs in the interest of the country's ailing economy and the population which has been burdened with unprecedented inflation.

Seeds

The farmers spotlighted that non-availability of quality seed continued to constrain their crop yields. They gave an example of the cotton seed whose germination as per the international standard is 80 per cent 50 per cent germination of seeds sold in Pakistan. According to them, absence of quality checks and a lack of research and development initiatives are the causes behind the malaise.

The board referred to the lethargic functionality of the Provincial Seed Council as another reason. The council, which authorized and registered seeds, is supposed to meet once every month. But in Sindh the last meeting was held around a year ago.

The farmers complained that staying aloof from biotechnology is one more factor hampering development of new seeds which are now supposed to be resilient to climate change, droughts, pests and diseases. They requested the government to kick-start the process of harnessing biotechnology in collaboration with the private sector to develop improved varieties of seeds.

They demanded that over 6,000 acres of land of the Sindh Seed Corporation should be utilised for seed development instead of keeping the land idle. The SAB also called for rewarding the scientists who create new quality seeds and to enforce the intellectual property rights law in a robust way as a safeguard for the inventors and producing companies.

D. Bashir Nizamani, Syed Nadeem Shah, Mohammed Aslam Mari, Malook Nizamani, Syed Salman Shah, Mustafa Nawaz Shah, Malik Nizamani, Shahnawaz Behmani and other farmers attended the meeting.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2024.