Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) President, Abdul Majeed Nizamani on Tuesday presented state of agricultural economy in the province and budget proposals for the year 2008-09 at a press conference here. He said that the GDP and agriculture growth rate targets of 7.5 and 4.5 percent respectively are unlikely to be met as the international scenario has worsened and there is a major shortage of wheat and rice.
Nizamani said that last year growers suffered losses worth billions of rupees in terms of wheat and sugarcane and huge amount is still outstanding against the mills. Delayed crushing season and indents to middlemen for procuring sugarcane at lesser price added to the miseries of the growers, he added.
Paddy growers received average price of Rs 422 when the commodity was being sold at Rs 15 in retail market and price of the same has now reached Rs 50 with growers getting no advantage of the increase in the price.
Cotton was heavily infested by mealy bug, the growers in panic tripled pesticide expense but were unable to control the pest, even though the area of cotton had increased but the yields fell by 10 to 15 percent on average. The increase in the support price of wheat to Rs 625 was appreciated but was too late and too little, he said.
He said that the SAB feared in March that if support price of wheat was not increased to its realistic value the commodity will be hoarded and smuggled and will be scarcely available at exorbitant rates to the consumers, as is happening now. These distortions and irritants continue to haunt the agricultural economy and are a major hindrance to increase the per acre yield which is one of the lowest in the world.
Inter and intra provincial water governance is affecting agricultural production. Before the rabi 2007 season, government announced water shortage of 28 percent but that suddenly increased to 70 percent in Sindh alone depriving wheat of its last watering in most of the province besides affecting yield and sowing of early kharif. Water will continue to affect the inter-provincial harmony and requires a certain commitment from the government that the water will be distributed as per water accord of 1991 in a transparent manner, he said.
Nizamani said the lining of watercourses is a commendable step and the scheme needs to be continued and Rs 30 billion should be allocated to line distributaries. He demanded that Sindh should be allocated 75 percent in the water budget as the major area of the province is deprived of usable underground water.
He said that the trade deficit of Pakistan is to cross whopping US $17 billion this year. The point to ponder is the major share of food items in the import bill comprising, edible oil, wheat etc. Both of these commodities, he added can be grown in Pakistan.
Nizamani suggested adoption of a two-way strategy to make Pakistan a food exporting country. Firstly by covering the yield gap and secondly by introducing new potential products in Pakistan.
He said that Sunflower and palm oil have potential to reduce import bill of Rs 50 billion. Sunflower is being produced and processed successfully but only requires additional incentives. He added that as per SAB study, 950-km of the coastal belt is ideal for palm oil production and bunches produced here are approximately 18 per tree per year, which are even more than Malaysia.
He said the share of livestock is increasing in the agricultural sector. It is contributing about 50 percent in agricultural GDP. It is important as a first step to identify meat and milk varieties separately. After doing that pure breeds should be reared with the help of the private sector.
Nizamani said that fisheries support around 0.4 million people in Karachi alone. Due to lack of government control and initiatives the EU has stopped importing fish from Pakistan. Therefore, it is important to formulate integrated strategy from shipping to handling of the fish according to the standards of the EU. As the health, hygiene and environmental issues are gaining attention it is imperative that Pakistan caters to the changing consumer demands, he added.
He said that due to the deteriorating law and order situation, the operations at farms are being affected which will eventually affect the production. He urged upon the government to make arrangements for improving law and order in the province.
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