LAHORE, Sept 2: Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind said on Tuesday that Kalabagh Dam should be constructed to meet the ever-growing shortage of water in the country.

Presiding over the 95th extraordinary meeting of Farmers Associates Pakistan (FAP) here, Sardar Rind termed politicization of the issue unfortunate. Gen Musharraf has taken steps for construction of reservoirs, which should help solve water problems in the country. But the major help in this regard, he maintained, would come from the construction of Kalabagh Dam. He said that two committees had been set up for reviewing the issues related to construction of new water reservoirs. This shows the government’s preference for a consensus over the issue in view of national interests.

The minister said that the government was already working on the construction of 11 small dams in the country, which included the much-delayed Mirani Dam.

Talking about the delay in sugarcane-crushing season, he expressed the hope that millers would start crushing at the stipulated time. The government, he made it clear, would protect the interests of growers.

He also said that the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) would not buy the surplus 100,000 tons of sugar from millers if they failed to clear the outstanding dues of farmers.

Mr Rind disclosed that the ministry was preparing a report on the cropping pattern and collecting data at the grass-roots level for the purpose. The report, he said, would be presented to the prime minister in a week.

Besides reducing the prices of fertiliser, he said, the government was striving hard for a reduction in the price of pesticides. But the usage of pesticides should not be increased after reduction of prices because excessive use was harmful.

He informed that an advisory board was being set up to prepare guidelines for the development of agriculture in the country. “The 20-member committee would comprise seven members from the Punjab, five from Sindh and four each from the NWFP and Balochistan.” He assured the gathering that policies would be made in consultation with all stakeholders in the sector.

Later, briefing the newsmen, FAP member Rabia Sultan said that her organization welcomed the announcement of government regarding new water reservoirs. She said that all provinces were suffering from water problems. The FAP has offered its good offices to facilitate a consensus on the issue.

Ms Sultan said that representatives of farmers could better propagate the benefits of a new dam among the farming community than bureaucrats. Talking about the Greater Thal Canal, she said that it was being built under the 1991 Water Accord and was therefore not a controversial project.

She urged the government to adopt measures for timely initiation of the sugarcane-crushing season. “The FAP will not allow anyone to delay the crushing season,” she vowed, threatening that farmers would stop the sale of sugarcane if the millers failed to start crushing on time.

She also demanded of the government to reduce the prices of agriculture inputs and withdraw the GST from fertilisers. She also underlined the need to implement the support price of potatoes in the market, saying that growers were facing severe problems in marketing their produce.