March 30, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 21, 1429

MULTAN, March 29: The farming community in the southern Punjab has welcomed the announcement of Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani for raising the wheat support price from Rs510 to Rs625 per 40kg.

Khawaja Mohammad Shoaib of the Farmers Vision Forum termed it an important step and said after the decision the government would be able to purchase wheat at $248 per metric ton as against the price of $653 at which it was imported by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan last year.

The country could have achieved more benefits if the decision was taken by the Shaukat Aziz government at the time of wheat sowing.

He said if the government agencies played its due role, wheat flour might be available at Rs700 per maund throughout the country against the present rates of Rs800 to 1,000.

He said the decision had provided an opportunity to the government to purchase wheat at lower rates from local market instead of importing it on much higher prices.

Fiazul Hassan Bhutta, Kisan Board (District Multan) President, hailed the decision, but said the minimum price should have been fixed at Rs800 because input prices were much higher and load-shedding and shortage of irrigation water had already increased the cost of production, and farmers were forced to irrigate lands through tractors. Moreover, fuel prices had also skyrocketed, he said.

He said that even after the increase in wheat support price, farmers would prefer to sell their crop in the open market to save themselves from exploitation from the staff of government institutions.

Mohammad Sharif Dhareja, a progressive farmer from Rahim Yar Khan, said that the country’s agriculture sector needs more attention. He said if farmers would become prosperous, country’s economy would automatically flourish.

Rasheed Khan Langah, Kisan Board (Rajanpur) President, said that the government had taken an appreciable step, but it should announce more incentives for the development of agriculture.

He said that the farming community was aware that the increase in wheat support prices would affect the common man, but farmers had been facing bad times due to high rates of inputs.

He said that small farmers were forced to sell their land while in district Rajanpur, water for irrigation from Dajal Branch was not provided to them. On the other hand, the government was demanding water tax from farmers which was unjustified.

He demanded of the government to write off agriculture loans outstanding against small formers as they were not able to return them.