The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Federal Cabinet has rejected a proposal for the increase in indicative prices of potato and onion with a directive to the Food and Agriculture Ministry that it should find other means to make these key cash crops an attraction for the growers. It directed the food and agriculture ministry as well as the commerce ministry to jointly conduct a study that how growers can get good return on these cash crops.
Sources told Business Recorder that a meeting is being convened shortly to prepare a working paper for the study on onion and potato.
They said the food and agriculture ministry had referred a summery to the ECC for its last meeting wherein it suggested Rs 50 increase in indicative prices for these two cash crops, adding the ministry had based its case for increasing prices of farm inputs such as fertilisers, rise in electricity rates for tube-wells and tilling cost for farming for the increase in indicative prices of onion and potato.
They said the ministry's argument was that the increase in indicative prices of onion and potato would help the growers meet their input cost, and they will get maximum production to get the country surplus produce for export.
Pakistan is surplus in potato and onion production, but their export is not very encouraging.
This phenomenon is hitting the growers hard who have been demanding of the government for finding the new market to export the surplus produce.
It may be noted that the Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) had set a target of 2.1 million for potato and 1.5 million for onion for 2004-05.
Balochistan is a major producer of onion, and the exploration of market for its export is a long outstanding demand of the provincial government.