Pakistan Crop Protection Association (PCPA) has urged the government to allow setting up of Commodity Trading Houses (CTH) in the private sector, as it would help farmers to get reasonable prices of their crops. Chairman, PCPA, Jawed Saleem Qureshi told reporters, here on Saturday that government buying agencies and some private sector players would help stabilise the prices of agriculture products, and also ensure handsome returns to the farmers.
He said that the proposed private trading houses should also be given eight to ten years tax exemption. Senior Vice-Chairman, PCPA, Jamshed Iqbal Cheema and other executive committee members were also present on this occasion. Jawed Qureshi said that farmers of cotton and rice are not getting reasonable prices of their products at present.
Prices are very low and even there is no buyer in the market, he claimed. He urged that the government to bring Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) and Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) in the market to purchase cotton and rice so that farmers could get reasonable prices of their crops.
When his attention was drawn towards the fact that Passco is already buying rice, he said that the government should ensure provision of the commodity as per the announced prices of Rs 3000 per maund or Rs 1500 per maund for the paddy. In his opinion the mechanism adopted by the Passco to buy paddy through millers is not delivering the required results.
Furthermore, Qureshi said that if the situation was not improved it might cause decline in wheat sowing, while usage of less quantity of pesticides could seriously damage the yield.
At present, the government rate for cotton is Rs 1,465 per maund and for rice Rs 1500 per maund, which is very low and if these rates were not raised, the sowing of the wheat would be decreased that resultantly decline its production, eventually the government may miss the production target of 24 million tonnes, he added.
Chairman, PCPA, also said that the people who are associated with the agri business they should be exempted from any kind of tax, which may help government to purchase any agri products from private sector at lower rate to meet shortage of the commodities. In this way problems of the farmers as well as government could be solved amicably as the farmers would be able to get reasonable prices of their crops and in this way government would also be able to meet the targets.