For the farmers: PM approves installing 30,000 solar water pumps

Asks finance ministry to include the Rs12b project in budget

ISLAMABAD: The prime minister has approved a summary that proposes installation of 30,000 solar water pumps for farmers across the country at an estimated cost of Rs12 billion.

A senior officer in the Ministry of National Food Security and Research said the summary was prepared by a special committee headed by former law minister Zahid Hamid. The ministry also had its input in the summary.

The officer said the prime minister had asked the Ministry of Finance to include the proposal in the upcoming budget and allocate required funds. Under the project, 30,000 solar water pumps will be installed over the next five years and its cost has been estimated at Rs12 billion.

The project, which will be implemented in phases, is aimed at reducing the cost of production for the agriculture sector by providing cheap electricity through solar energy, which costs less than many other sources including thermal and hydroelectric power.

Currently, the farmers are facing challenges like high cost of production of all crops including wheat, sugarcane and rice, which ultimately pushes up prices of commodities in the country and international markets.

The officer said due to the high input cost, prices of Pakistani commodities – wheat, sugar and rice – were quite high in the international market and that had weakened the demand.

Keeping in view the situation, the government had approved a subsidy on wheat export to bring its price in line with regional markets, but it failed to work as less than 200,000 tons could be exported against the target of 1.2 million tons set by the Economic Coordination Committee.

The farmers are seeking a reduction in prices of agricultural inputs in order to cut the cost of production, which will directly benefit them. However, the subsidy on exports mostly benefits either exporters or middlemen while growers never get the reward for their work.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2015.

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