Farmers receive subsidy of Rs24,700 per acre for purchase of urea and DAP fertilizer
KARACHI:
The Sindh government has appealed to the Center to announce a national level wheat support price to protect the interests of farmers facing increasing financial pressure.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Sindh Agriculture Minister Sardar Muhammad Bakhsh Mahar said that under the conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), provincial governments are not allowed to fix support prices independently without a directive from the Centre.
“Farmers are under severe hardship as the support price of wheat is yet to be fixed,” he said, urging the federal government to announce a minimum support price of Rs 4,200 per maund (40 kg) without further delay.
The minister said that the Central Executive Committee of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had also demanded fixation of wheat price in its meeting yesterday. He warned that if farmers were not assured of a reasonable income, many might abandon wheat farming and turn to other crops, potentially triggering a food crisis in the country.
Highlighting Sindh’s efforts to support the farming community, Sardar Mahar said the provincial government had launched a Rs56 billion wheat growers support scheme, under which farmers are provided a subsidy of Rs24,700 per acre for purchasing urea and DAP fertilizer.
“This facility will benefit 411,000 farmers owning between one and 25 acres of land,” he said, adding that 132,601 farmers have already been registered, while the registration process for others is underway.
He further informed that Sindh has also reserved an additional Rs 8 billion for small farmers and haris under the Hari card scheme. The minister said the distribution of 52,993 new Hari cards at Sindh Bank branches across the province was underway.
Sardar Mahar clarified that the Hari card scheme is entirely separate from the Rs56 billion wheat support scheme.
He further said that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had issued special guidelines to ensure maximum relief and facilities to the farmers of Sindh.
