FPCCI seeks incentives for oilseed growers

Better crops will help lessen reliance on edible oil imports.

ISLAMABAD: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has sought special incentives in budgets of provinces for growers of oilseed crops in a bid to lessen reliance on imported edible oil.

The chairman of FPCCI Standing Committee on Agriculture Production and Horticulture, Ahmad Jawad, underscored the need of supporting oilseed growers in order make the country self-reliant and reduce import of edible oil.

“Provincial governments must fix prices of local oilseed crops for at least three years to stop the increase in import bill,” he said. “Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) must also provide loans to the growers to enable them to meet expenses.”

He was of the view that due to lack of resources and incentives for the growers, Pakistan was not producing sufficient edible oil to meet domestic needs. As a result, a substantial amount is spent on the import of soyabean and palm oil every year.

The Pakistan Oilseed Development Board, disbanded in 2012 following the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, has been revived with clipped powers and it only looks after matters of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the federal capital.

Oilseed crops like mustard, sunflower, rapeseed and canola require favourable investment climate in the provinces where they are grown.

“Growers are discouraged by the market price and are handicapped in the absence of an enabling environment,” Jawad said, adding farmers, who chose to cultivate the sunflower crop, often looked dejected because they were left at the mercy of the market.

Sindh heavily contributes to the production of sunflower and other oilseed crops. Despite this, he said, the provincial agriculture department was not taking up the issue and the growers were not getting adequate price for sunflower and mustard crops, that varied between Rs1,400 and Rs1,500 per 40 kg.

Last year, the average price of the two crops had gone up to Rs2,200-2,300. “Similarly, seeds that have lower yield are a major problem for the growers,” Jawad said.

He said though the support price of wheat was largely supported with the help of government’s procurement policy, for oilseed crops, there was no such cover and their output had declined.

According to official figures, sunflower acreage decreased to 383,000 acres in 2013-14 from 1.1m acres in 2010-11. Sindh cultivated the crop over 308,000 acres and harvested 137,602 tons of sunflower.

Jawad urged the government to adopt a line of action in the upcoming budget so that the $2.5-billion import bill could be slashed.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2015.

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