Prices of food items may increase over 20 per cent by the end of current year if cost of production in agricultural sector continues to increase at the present rate. This was stated by the Chairman Agri-Forum Pakistan Muhammad Ibrahim Mughal while talking to media persons after a training workshop arranged by the forum for its members here on Saturday.
He said that prices of sugar, flour, meat, vegetables and fruits would register increase if cost of production continued its upward trend, Mughal added. Mughal said it was unfortunate that edible oil is being imported at Rs 90 per kg but ghee made out of it is being sold at Rs 160 per kg. It has financially broken the backbone of the common man, he observed.
Agri-Forum Chairman said that companies providing agricultural inputs are increasing prices on daily basis and claimed that prices of many agricultural inputs have increased from 30 to 80 percent during last one year. While on the other hand, some companies are taking advantage of their monopoly or shortage of items they are manufacturing thus causing increase in cost of production, Mughal alleged. Ibrahim Mughal and other participants in the training programme urged the government to bring down the cost of production in agricultural sector to the level of year 2008 so the farmers could get better per-acre yield and Pakistani people could get cheaper and quality food items in time.