“The policy is focusing to let market forces decide the prices of all agriculture produces and eliminating the role of government institutions for price fixation,” an official of Agriculture Policy Institute (API) told APP. He said that the aim of the policy was to protect and safeguard the rights of all stakeholders including growers, buyers and consumers in the country.
It was observed that the support price mechanism was largely benefitting large landholders and large scale producers whereas small scale farmers were deprived of the support price. The policy is being formulated to pay proper attention to small landholders who consist 90% of the total agricultural land in the country but they were not getting prices for their produce due to middlemen, he added.
He said that the other objective of the policy was to provide a platform for the small growers to sell their produces on rational prices in the open market. Besides, he said that the prices of inputs like fertilisers, pesticides, seeds and labour cost also increased which inflated the prices of agricultural commodities.
He said that adulteration in fertilisers and pesticides was another cause harming the growers by reducing the per acre output, adding that the federal government directed the provinces to keep proper check and deal with iron hands with adulators. He said that government was ensuring availability of agri-inputs before the starting of upcoming sowing seasons particularly the wheat crop in the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2012.
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