04 January 2004	Sunday	11 Ziqa'ad 1424

HYDERABAD, Jan 3: The Sindh Abadgar Board has said that due to the anti-agricultural policies formulated under the pressure of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the government will have no other option but to import agricultural products after two years.

The executive committee of the board, which met here on Sunday, also accused the government of bowing before the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association by fixing the price of sugarcane at Rs41 per 40kg and allowing the mills to decide the beginning of the crushing season.

Pointing out that this was a violation of the Sugarcane Act and the decision of parliamentary committee, it alleged that the government's decision had resulted in a loss of half a million tons of the crop and added that an amount of over Rs2 billion was outstanding against the mills.

Due to non-payment of the outstanding amount, proper investment in the running summer and the coming winter seasons would be next to impossible which would render a telling blow to the production of wheat, sugarcane, cotton, rice and other crops, the committee observed.

It demanded that arrears of difference in the prices of sugarcane and surcharge should be paid without delay, 50 per cent subsidy on fertilizers and pesticides should be given besides waiving the power bills for tube-wells and lift pumps.

It also demanded that rates of diesel should be reduced and taxes on sugar should be withdrawn whereas surplus sugar should be exported on the pattern of other countries.

The meeting regretted the unwarranted increase in the fare of shipping companies and urged the government to encourage shipping lines in the private sector and grant 30 per cent concession on exports on the pattern of China to save the agriculture sector.

Reminding the government that growers had been allotted a quota of 30 per cent shops in the fruit and vegetable markets of Karachi and Hyderabad, the committee demanded that possession of the plots should be given to the growers without delay.

In another resolution, the board invited the attention of the government to the notification issued on Sept 30 last year, postponing recovery of taxes and levies for a year.

Observing that this was not enough, the meeting demanded that all outstanding dues should be waived as the affected growers were not in a position to pay the accumulated sum of two years.