Secretary General (Federal) of the Businessmen Panel and former chairman FPCCI Standing Committee on Agriculture Produce, Ahmad Jawad has said modern technology should be introduced for pre- and post-harvest. Such technology should especially be provided to small farmers at their doorsteps, he added.
Welcoming the federal cabinet decision to provide Rs 100 billion subsidy to agriculture sector to ameliorate the sufferings of farmers, he said we are waiting for the details which is yet to be announced.
He said if we want to take up the country GDP growth to 8% then we have to strengthen the agriculture sector and in this regard a coordination committee should be formed between the federal government and provinces so that on quarterly basis they review the situation and implement the relief towards the farming community in the same time.
Jawad briefed cost of production of farmers are going beyond their range. Now it's is uncompetitive for local farmers to compete the prices internationally.
According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2018-2019, the agriculture sector growth is estimated at 0.85 percent. The sector has witnessed a negative growth of 4.4 percent during FY-2019 mainly due to negative growth (-6.6 percent) of important crops.
The production of wheat, Maize and rice have been drastically down 30% in this year while cotton production have gone down up to 45% and it is mainly due to hike of input prices of fertilisers, diesel and electricity tariff rate.
He said if the incumbent government wants to uplift the agricultural sector and its share in the GDP before ending of the ongoing finance bill of 2019-20, immediately Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) should reduce the prices of the fertilisers, reduce the electricity tariff rate for agriculture sector, and further reduce the prices of diesel so that farmers may provide some breathing space.
Jawad also said initial focus should be on increasing agricultural production and productivity through the intensification, diversification, and commercialisation of agriculture based on a sound physical, organisational and institutional infrastructure. Rural development depends on sustained growth as rural income is primarily derived from agriculture and has the capacity to meet the cost of any development programme, he added.
He said growth centres should be established for every 10 union councils that should work towards marketing produce and establishing small and medium-sized industries to create jobs for the rural population so they don't have to migrate to cities.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019