ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Kissan Ittehad, a representative body of farmers from across the country, on Monday said its talks with the government on reducing the cost of production in the agriculture sector have failed after Finance Minister Ishaq Dar refused to consider their demands.

“The finance minister told the delegation the government has given enough concessions to farmers and no more can be considered in the budget,” claimed Central General Secretary of Kissan Ittehad Mian Umair Masood. Mr Masood was part of the delegation which met with Mr Dar.

However, a press release later issued by the Ministry of Finance said the finance minister assured the delegation that the government would give consideration to their proposals.

Mr Dar said the government has already given a number of incentives to the agriculture sector. These include the provision of fertilisers on special subsidised rates which aims at boosting agricultural production. The farming community must make full use of this facility, he told the delegation.

Mr Umair told Dawn the proposal for uniform electricity tariff during peak and off-peak hours was not accepted by the finance minister. Currently, off-peak electricity charges for agriculture are Rs5.35 per kWh and Rs10.35 per kWh for peak hours.

The delegation led by Khalid Mahmud Khokhar also proposed the government to fix prices of three major crops – maize, cotton and rice – as done by countries like India and China.

If the cost of inputs is not reduced, the farmers of Pakistan would not be able to compete with their counterparts in India and China, and by this way prices in the market will not fall, Mr Khokhar said.

Another proposal suggested was the withdrawal of GST and GIDC on agriculture.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2017