The Senate Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research in its inaugural meeting Friday elected Senator Muzaffar Hussain Shah unanimously as its chairman. His name was proposed by Senator Maula Bakhsh Chandio and was seconded by Senator Sajid Mir. The newly-elected chairman wowed to continue the precedent set by the committee in its performance during the last tenure.
The committee at present is discussing and reviewing a number of matters related to agricultural economy of the country including provision of timely approved seeds to farmers of various crops, sufficient supply of fertilizers, reasons for low per acre production of most important crops and government's actions to resolve these problems.
The committee is also discussing the issues of sugarcane growers who have been exploited by the sugar millers since long as they are not providing the farmers market-based prices of their produce. The panel has expressed concern and disappointment over the non-implementation of minimum support prices of sugarcane, which was notified by the respective provincial governments for growers during the current season.
It also noted that the minimum support price of Rs 160 per 40kg laid down by the Sindh High Court was also not implemented by the provincial government of Sindh. The meeting observed that though it is a provincial subject after passage of the 18th Amendment, the federal government should play its role to protect the farmers' rights and agriculture development in the country.
The committee anticipated that in view of the prevailing situation the cultivation of sugarcane would be badly affected and growers may shift to other crops, which would create a serious sugar crisis in the country. The committee has recommended the federal and provincial governments for evolving a proper mechanism to provide fair price to the farmers for their produce and protect their rights.
The meeting also asked the provincial governments to ensure a minimum support price of sugarcane crop through their sugarcane commissioners. The committee asked for formulating a proper crop policy in order to avoid such a situation as well as making the agriculture sector more profitable and producing resource-efficient crops to fulfill domestic requirements.