The Kissan Board Pakistan has demanded of the government to field Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Supplies Corporation (Passco) to buy paddy from the farmers at government support price to stabilise paddy prices and ensure fair return to the growers.
In a statement, President of KBP, Zafar Hussain, said here on Sunday that in the absence of Passco's rice procurement operation, the farmers have been left at the mercy of the middlemen and market forces who have formed a cartel to buy paddy at much lower rates than the government fixed prices. Hussain warned that if the government did not direct Passco to start paddy procurement, the rice growers would stop growing paddy that fetches more than $ 2 billion foreign exchange through exports after meeting the domestic needs.