CED on tobacco: 'Federal government to be approached for NWFP's share'

Provincial Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Arbab Muhammad Ayub Jan has said that federal government will be approached to release the due share of the NWFP collected in head of Central Excise Duty (CED) on tobacco. He said this during a briefing given to him by the provincial Secretary Agriculture Abdul Samad Khan at his office here on Saturday.
Arbab regretted that despite being an agriculture country, we could not become self-sufficient even in the wheat and milk. He said that 48 percent fruits need of the country is being fulfilled by the NWFP and it is a high time that the Agriculture Department should give due attention to the horticulture sector so that the fruit could be exported to the Middle East and other Asian countries.
He also directed Secretary Agriculture to ask the Industry Department as to why the sugar mills have started crushing season a month late which not only badly affected the farmers and sugar crops but also caused delay in wheat crop.
Arbab Ayub Jan also asked the concerned authorities to prepare a summary to restart the co-operative schemes for the poor growers. Terming the agriculture sector as backbone of the economy he said that the present government was determined to eliminate unemployment and poverty through agriculture sector and for the purpose more incentives were needed to be provided to the farmers.
He took serious note of lack of payment to the sugarcane growers by the sugar industries and asked Secretary Agriculture to contact the Industries Department so as appropriate action could be taken against the mills' owners.
He said that a meeting would be held with the federal government for reduction in prices of fertilisers so the input and output could be balanced. He said that the government should wave off the credit of the small growers and provide them diesel and electricity on subsidised rate.
The minister also directed the concerned quarters to establish a collection point at vegetables and fruit market so that all the fruit and vegetable of our province could be sent to the Middle East.
He asked them to contact PIA authority to start cargo service from Peshawar for the purpose. The minister was astonished to know that only 0.82 percent of the total budget was being allocated to agriculture and said that it should be at least 8 percent of the total provincial budget.