Representatives of farmers community have demanded of the government to implement the decision of supreme court regarding fixation of sugarcane price and ensure supply of irrigation water from Warsak Dam through lift irrigation system otherwise they will start agitation.
The decision was taken in a meeting held at residence of Rashid Khan of Babuzai village at Charsadda Road. The participants expressed serious concern over the delay in payment of the sugarcane dues and urged the government to take action against owners of different sugar mills.
Sharing details of the meeting Rashid Khan told this correspondent that the farmers at different villages along Charsadda Road were facing serious problems due to shortage of irrigation water and they had spent huge money from their pockets to arrange water but it could not be made possible. "During the previous provincial government work on the Michini lift irrigation system had been initiated due to personal interests of former senior minister Sikandar Sherpao but the plan was abandoned when the minister tendered resignation," he said. Besides, he said that in rest of the provinces the owners of sugarcane mills were paying Rs 180 to growers for per 40 kg but in Peshawar the millers were paying only Rs 150 or even Rs 140, saying that Supreme court had also given its verdict in this regard but it was yet to be implemented.
He also criticized the district government for receiving road cess from the farmers and not paying attention towards reconstruction and repair of the roads in the relevant areas. "We have already requested the deputy commissioner Peshawar to stop the cutting of roads cess from farmers which was amounting to over Rs 20 million but to no avail," he complained. He said that growers were being faced with multiple problems which had caused decrease in yield of various crops and vegetables and even fruits.
Rashid Khan recalled that the previous provincial government of PTI had announced 'Insaf food Programme' with the claim to give incentives to growers in order to increase produce of different crops in the province but it failed to materialize its plan. The farmers, he said would soon convene a protest conference wherein the participants will discuss their problems and devise strategy to raise their genuine demands at the provincial and federal level otherwise the agriculture produce will not increase. In many areas, he said the irrigation channels needed to be reconstructed but the successive governments never paid them serious attention and thus maximum of the water could not reach the agriculture farms due to damaged canals.
He said the increasing prices of fertilizers, seeds and pesticides was another serious issue because most of the farmers belonged to humble family background and could not afford to purchase such items before marketing their crops/ vegetables. The government, he said should provide interest-free agriculture loans on easy installments so that the growers could play vital role in increasing the production of crops, different kinds of vegetables and fruits in respective areas to remove the unrest among the farmers.
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