Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture on Monday observed that if the sugar millers failed in timely payment of the dues to farmers there is a strong possibility that they will shift to other cash crops such as wheat and rice, which will eliminate the sugar industry in next five years, forcing the country to solely depend on imports for local consumption.
He expressed these views while chairing the 91st meeting of Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA), here. The meeting which was attended by the provincial agriculture ministers, federal secretary for agriculture, provincial agriculture secretaries and other high officials of the agriculture ministry, besides representatives of the State Bank of Pakistan, Agriculture Development Bank, and Indus River System Authority, also reviewed and discussed the situation of wheat, sugarcane and rice crops and all other issues relating to agriculture sector.
During the meeting the participants showed grave concerns over the functioning of micro-credit institutions and stressed upon them to adopt farmers'' friendly lending methods because presently the these institutes are charging more than 36 percent interest on loans, which is about 23 percent higher than the normal rate.
The meeting was informed that presently Pakistan has sufficient stocks of wheat, rice and other necessary commodities and there is no chance of food shortage in coming days. The committee reviewed the status of production of Kharif crops (cotton, rice, sugarcane, etc) for year 2009 and gave recommendations for upcoming season.The meeting reviewed the meteorological conditions, irrigation water availability, agricultural inputs status (Agricultural credit, machinery, fertilisers, seeds, pesticides, etc) for Rabi crops (wheat, gram, lentil) for 2009-10.
The meeting was informed that the ministry has estimated cotton production for the year 2009-10 as 12.1 million bales against the last year production of 11.8 million bales. It also decided that insect resistant BT cotton varieties with tolerance to Cotton Leaf Curl Virus (CLCV) are being introduced in the country from next Kharif season (2010) so that the per acre yield could be enhanced.
It fixed the rice production estimates for the year 2009-10 at 6.4 million tons against last year''s 6.9 million tons. Sugarcane production estimates for 2009-10 were set at 48 million tons against the last year''s production of 50 million tons.
While stressing the need for timely paying the outstanding dues of the farmers the meeting observed if the sugar millers failed in paying the outstanding dues of the farmers in time, there is a possibility that the farmers will stop growing sugarcane and start cultivating other crops.
Maize production estimated target for 2009-10 is set at 3.5 million tons, which was same as the last year''s production. Mung production estimates for 2009-10 were fixed at 130 thousand tons against the last year''s production of 148 thousand tones.
While reviewing the targets of Rabi crops, the meeting was informed that the government in consultation with four provinces, FATA and AJ&K authorities'' has set wheat production target for 2009-10 as 25 million tons against the last year''s achieved target of 24 million tons. Procurement price of wheat has been maintained at Rs 950/40kg.
The meeting was informed that the government will procure 7.5 million tons of wheat during year 2009-10 as against the target of 6 million tons last year. Next year a wheat productivity enhancement campaign will be launched to increase per acre yield at federal/provincial levels. Potato production target was fixed at 2.7 million tons against the last year''s production 2.5 million tones.
It was further informed that the onion production target was fixed at 1.9 million tons against the last year''s production 1.8 million tones. Gram production target was fixed at 750,000 tons against the last year''s production 760,000 tons. While giving the details of agricultural inputs the meeting was informed about the irrigation water position for Rabi 2009 crops based on the reports by Irsa, total anticipated availability of water for the season is 26 Million Acre Feet (MAF) against 25 MAF of last year. While informing the meeting about agricultural credit the representative of the State Bank of Pakistan said that the Bank has allocated Rs 260 billion for the year 2009-10, as compared to last year disbursement of Rs 232 billions. The meeting was informed about the supply and demand of fertiliser for Kharif season 2009 and observed that the Pakistan''s total demand for urea is 3 million tons and its availability will be 3.2 million tons. It was also informed that local production of urea is estimated at 2.4 million tons while remaining 0.6 million tons will be imported and it has been approved by the ECC.
Total availability of DAP fertiliser will be 100,000 tons against estimated demand of 850,000 million tons. Local production of DAP is estimated as 300,000 tons with carry forward stock 314,000 tons while remaining 370,000 tons will be imported. Availability of certified wheat seed is 200,000 tons (20 percent) against the last year availability of 180, 000 tons.