Govt plans to revive farming sector

The package will be announced after assessing the losses to crops and livestock, the government said on Tuesday.

ISLAMABAD: A “comprehensive” package to revive the key agriculture sector will be announced after assessing the losses to crops and livestock, the government said on Tuesday.

Federal Food Minister Nazar Mohammad Gondal told a parliamentary panel here that farmers in areas declared calamity-hit by the provincial governments will get their agricultural loans waived off.

The minister said it is not possible to assess losses immediately and the government will initiate a survey once the water recedes. “The losses are huge and it will take the country a couple of years to overcome the devastation brought to the agriculture sector,” he said.

The minister did not give any exact estimates but said the losses to crops like sugarcane, rice and cotton are between 20 and 35 per cent. Gondal, however, played down fears that the country may face a severe shortage of grains. “This is not the case…our stocks (of wheat) are safe and only 27,000 tons are lost,” the minister assured.

The committee recommended that the government should remove all illegal construction by influential individuals near the rich agriculture belt in Punjab and Sindh.  Another proposal by the panel was that the government should provide farmers soft loans (on less than two per cent interest) out of the aid from international donors.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 18^th, 2010.