October 22, 2003	Wednesday	Sha’aban 25, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 21: The strong farm lobby in the ruling coalition raised a storm of protest in the National Assembly on Tuesday over what it called heavy damage to cotton crop by pest attack but won assurances of only small government relief.

A heated debate on an adjournment motion on the issue dominated proceedings of what was the private members’ day after opposition parties walked out of the lower house as part of their routine protests against President Pervez Musharraf’s controversial Legal Framework Order (LFO).

Responding to charges ranging from inefficiency of agriculture and research authorities to the supply of sub-standard pesticides by multinational companies, the government promised to set up a task force to study how to lift cotton production in the long term and to consider giving immediate relief to farmers in the form of putting off loan repayments wherever necessary.

But Minister of State for Food and Agriculture Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan, winding up the debate in a House that met after an unusually long delay of 105 minutes, seemed to ignore a demand for a big economic package for cotton growers to compensate for their losses in the main growing Punjab province as well as in Sindh.

In their speeches on the adjournment motion moved by Makhdoom Syed Ahmad Alam Anwar (independent, Rahim Yar Khan), members from the main growing southern Punjab were particularly bitter about what they generally described as a catastrophe.

Some of them said they feared wheat, rice and sugar cane crops could also suffer setbacks because of perceived government apathy to the problems of the agriculture sector.

Mr Bosan acknowledged pest damage, but he repeated an assurance he gave to the House on a member’s call-attention notice on Oct 9 that the target of 10.5 million bales set for the 2003-4 cotton crop would still be achieved because of a 9.1 per cent increase in the crop area to 3.05 million hectares from the previous year’s 2.7 million hectares.

“We are committed to the uplift of farmers,” he said and assured the House that parliamentarians would be associated with the planned task force designed to recommend measures how to improve cotton production.

Mr Bosan said his ministry would consult provincial governments on extending the period of repayment of loan instalments by cotton growers “wherever necessary”. He also said abundant supplies of fertilisers would be available and that the government would ensure the start of sugar cane crushing by sugar mills in November.

Makhdoom Anwar, speaking on his adjournment motion, said 60 per cent of the expected cotton production in southern Punjab had been destroyed, causing an unprecedented loss to growers of a crop that accounts for about 60 per cent of the country’s annual foreign exchange earnings.

He said government ministers, and even the prime minister, seemed to be unconcerned about what could happen to Pakistan’s economic interests because of feared adverse effects of the World Trade Organization (WTO) trade regime.

The member called for attending to grievances of members representing the rural farming constituencies or he said “we will also review our position.”

He suggested the holding of a national seminar to consider an integrated pest management and accused agriculture officials of showing negligence for which, he said, the government should apologise.

Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtyar (PML-Q, Rahim Yar Khan), a former Punjab minister, said his Rahimyar Khan district accounted for 15 per cent of the national cotton produce and had suffered most because of non-availability of proper pesticides.

He called for an “integrated comprehensive strategy” for cotton production and suggested use of satellite imagery.

Haji Khuda Bakhsh Nizamani (PML-F, Sanghar) said his Sanghar district, top cotton producer in Sindh province, had suffered as much as southern Punjab and demanded a five-year moratorium in repayment of loans by growers and their exemption from interest.

Chaudhry Shahid Akram Bhinder (PML-Q, Gujranwala) called for guarding against sub-standard pesticides or he said all three major crops of wheat, cotton, rice and the agro-based industry would suffer.

Sultan Ahmed Khan (MQM, Karachi) accused authorities of failing to provide proper remedies and called for concrete measures to help cotton growers of the Punjab and Sindh, including compensation for their losses.

Ms Hina Rabbani Khar (PML-Q, Muzaffargarh) asked the government to help cotton growers in the same manner as it did to the textile sector to cope with WTO-related problems, make agricultural research institutions accountable and arrange for crisis management. Sardar Tufail Ahmed Khan (PML-Q, Kasur) said he feared wheat production would also suffer if the government did not set support price for the crop immediately.

Rashid Akbar Khan (PML-Q, Bhakkar) said agriculture should be made profitable to help ease unemployment and complained of the sale of spurious pesticides and non-payment by sugar mills of the price of sugar cane to growers of his area.