ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif set up on Wednesday a committee to finalise recommendations to solve the issues faced by farmers in the wake of declining prices of agricultural commodities in the international market.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar will head the committee and Minister for National Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan and National Food Security Secretary Seerat Asghar will be its members besides other stakeholders.

Presiding over a meeting at the PM House, he directed the committee to firm up proposals to reduce the cost of inputs and improve per-acre yield and profitability.

The meeting analysed and evaluated implications of the government interventions to manage the price fluctuations while keeping the interests of both the producers and consumers.

The prime minister felt that the country’s agriculture was suffering from global phenomenon and said a strategy should be devised to come out of the situation.

He asked the ministry of national food security to develop standards for use of agricultural machinery to improve their efficiency.

He directed the Ministry of National Food Security to initiate measures to attract investment in high-tech seed industry and inquired about any legislation in this regard.

Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal made a presentation to the prime minister and submitted recommendations finalised during a forum organised by the Planning Commission last month.

Sharif directed the provincial governments to initiate process for implementation of the recommendations of the agriculture forum.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Commerce Minister Khurram Dastagir Khan, Minister for National Food Security Sikandar Hayat Bosan, Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and federal secretaries and officials concerned also attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2015

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