Sindh urges Centre to fix wheat support price

KARACHI:

The Sindh government has called on the Centre to announce a national-level wheat support price to safeguard the interests of farmers facing mounting financial pressure.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Sindh Agriculture Minister Sardar Muhammad Bakhsh Mahar said that under the conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), provincial governments are not permitted to fix support prices independently without a directive from the Centre.

"The farmers are under severe stress because the wheat support price has not been fixed yet," he said, urging the federal government to announce a minimum support price of Rs4,200 per maund (40kg) without further delay.

The minister said that the Central Executive Committee of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had also demanded the fixation of the wheat price in its meeting a day earlier. He warned that if farmers were not assured a reasonable return, many might abandon wheat cultivation and shift to other crops, potentially triggering a food crisis in the country.

Highlighting Sindh's efforts to support the farming community, Sardar Mahar said the provincial government has launched a Rs56billion Wheat Growers Support Programme, under which farmers are being provided a subsidy of Rs24,700 per acre for the purchase of urea and DAP fertiliser.

"This facility will benefit 411,000 farmers owning between one and 25 acres of land," he said, adding that 132,601 farmers have already been registered, while the registration process for others is ongoing.

He further informed that Sindh has also earmarked an additional Rs8 billion for small farmers and haris under the Hari Card Scheme. The minister said that the distribution of 52,993 new Hari Cards through Sindh Bank branches across the province is in progress.

Sardar Mahar clarified that the Hari Card Scheme is entirely separate from the Rs56billion wheat support package.

He further stated that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has issued special directives to ensure maximum relief and facilities for farmers across Sindh.