22 May 2004	Saturday	02 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

LAHORE, May 21: Farmer bodies from the Punjab on Friday called for constitution of board of governors, with heavy representation of growers, to oversee the agriculture, water management and research wings.

Presenting their budget proposals, they pointed out that all these departments had failed to live up to their expectations and must be placed under farmers, the biggest stakeholders in agriculture.

They requested the government to restructure all these wings in such a way that farmers, along with other stakeholders, could play their role in developing them. They demanded that the government should allocate amount for this purpose in the coming budget.

They also stressed that sales tax should be withdrawn on fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides, and other inputs. "It must be reduced to five per cent, if the government cannot abolish it."

The local industry must be encouraged to invest and expand indigenous manufacturing, they emphasised, and demanded tax holiday for it to encourage local investment. Multinationals had virtually been enjoying a free hand in agriculture and they created more problems than solutions.

The organized sector must provide Rs200 billion in agriculture loans, which was the minimum requirement of the sector. It is currently providing only Rs60 billion, with rest coming from the private sector that exploits farmers.

Instead of charging interest on loans, only five per cent service charges be levied on it. The government and the agriculture sector were not prepared for the World Trade Organization regime, they said, urging that the farmers must be trained on ramifications of WTO and ways to compete at the global level. The government must allocate money for this purpose.

The representatives of the farmers insisted that the government must move to build big dams quickly. At present, many departments are dealing with new reservoirs. Instead of creating a plethora of organisations dealing with one issue and overlapping, one department can be created at the national level to deal with it and escape routine hiccups.

The Water and Power Development Authority should also be forced to adopt farmer-friendly policies because power charges had been a deterrent for the farmers and agriculture. A special package be announced for the farmers during the next year, they insisted.