SAHIWAL, Dec 14: The Anjuman-i-Kashtkaran has appealed to the government that either an immediate ban must be imposed on potato import from India through Wagah border or local farmers be provided subsidy on the pattern the Indian government has announced for its agriculture sector.

Talking to journalists on Sunday, Anjuman’s divisional president Muhammad Ashraf apprehended if none of the steps were taken soon, local potato growers might be ruined as they could not bring down their input cost to the level of their Indian counterparts who were being provided subsidies.

Demanding an immediate ban on import of Indian potato through Wagah border, he said it would result in an overall decrease in potato price in the local market which would hit the farmers.

He said the import had already brought down the potato price by Rs200 per 100 kilo bag in the local market.

He said the production cost for the local potato growers was increasing day by day as the government was gradually withdrawing subsidies on farm inputs.