LAHORE, Aug 6: A 47 per cent drop in the use of phosphate during the last three months might result in a corresponding decrease in the yield of cotton, rice and sugar-cane, claimed the Kissan Board Punjab on Wednesday, citing “the latest official figures”.

Kissan Board secretary-general Ibraheem Mughal told Dawn that reduction in the use of DAP (Di-Amonium Phosphate) could spell disaster for the Kharif crops, which earned the country most of the foreign exchange. This was in addition to a 30 per cent shortage of pesticides during the current Kharif season, he claimed, predicting more pressure on the yield because of it.

In fact, prices of both have spun out of control as a result of taxation. At present, farmers are paying around Rs1,100 per acre in taxes on the inputs they purchase for cotton, Rs800 for rice and Rs1,000 for sugar-cane. In total, the farming community is paying over Rs15 billion in taxes. This kind of taxation was unique to Pakistan and had rendered farming a profitless proposition, he said.

Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi announced formation of an Agriculture Advisory Committee four months ago but failed to fulfil his promise. For this reason, he had not been able to get proper and timely advice on agriculture policies, the KBP office-bearer said.

The government is also unwilling to bring down the rate of interest on agriculture loans in spite of the fact that the country is awashed with cash. The industry is getting it, according to President Pervez Musharraf, on as low an interest rate as two per cent, but the agriculture sector is still paying around 12 per cent.

The government must take immediate steps to bring down prices of all inputs and increase the support prices of main crops. It should ensure that DAP price does not go beyond Rs600 per sack, which is around Rs900 if the interest rate is included. Similarly, urea price should be restricted to Rs300, potash to Rs500 and SSP to Rs200. Any additional burden could harm the yield, he maintained.

On the other hand, the government should also increase the support price of cotton to Rs1,000, that of paddy to Rs550, sugar-cane to Rs45 and wheat to Rs400. He termed the current policies disastrous and asked the government to form advisory committees comprising farmers, technocrats, farmers’ bodies and media personnel for saving the sector.