Sindh Agriculture department has failed to facilitate growers of flood-hit districts in selling their sunflower seeds on actual market rate, Business Recorder learnt on Friday. Soon after the floods, the agriculture department with the support of USAID distributed sunflower seeds among thousands of growers belonging to badly flood-hit districts.
Which including Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Kashmore-Kandhkot, Ghotki and in some other districts so that local growers could get financial benefits from the sunflower crops. According to the sources, before this, growers had not cultivated sunflower crops on their lands, only wheat and rice used to be cultivated on that these areas.
Now, the sunflower crop is ready for sale in the market but there is no market value of seeds in the above mentioned districts, as a result thousands of growers were facing uncertainty in this regard. The agriculture department had not made serious efforts regarding the purchasing of seeds from growers on actual rates like procurement of wheat by the food department, sources added.
According to the information, the per maund rate of sunflower seed in the national market is 2100 but traders are looting growers and buying 1000 to 1400 seeds per maund. Ali Hassan Jamali from Shikarpur told Business Recorder that he had cultivated the sunflower crop on his 10 acres but there was not any trader who would give him actual rate. He said that if the government has distributed sunflower seed for the help of flood-affected growers so it should have made some arrangements for procurement on actual market rate.
Rustam Ali Khan Jakhrani from Jacobabad told that growers had cultivated sunflower crops on millions of acres but they were facing troubles due to inefficiency of officials of agriculture department regarding actual rate. Jakhrani, who is an agriculture expert, said that the agriculture department should have arranged some meetings with traders of sunflower from Punjab and other parts of the country in this regard.
He added that instead of inviting traders in cultivating areas, officials of department have not taken any special measures in this regard. Talking to Business Recorder, Secretary for Agriculture, Agha Jan Akhtar said that there was no policy of Sindh government to purchase sunflower seeds from growers. He said that they had conducted some meetings with authorities of Pakistan Oil Seed Development Board (POSDB) and some others as they could facilitate growers regarding giving them due rates of sunflower seeds.
Agha Jan Akhtar expressed complete satisfaction regarding the purchasing of seeds in local market and said that traders were buying it Rs 2000 to 2100 per maund. He further said he would talk to local officials for facilitating growers.