LAHORE: Farmers have demanded that both the federal and provincial ministers for agriculture should tender their resignations for what they called failing to effectively tackle the locust problem that was adversely affecting the sector.

“Locusts first attacked the country almost one year ago, posing a big threat to different crops. The issue has repeatedly been raised with the concerned persons, but it seems the federal and provincial agriculture authorities, including ministers, have neither the capacity nor vision to address the problem. And such leaders must not remain in their offices to avoid further losses to the sector,” Farmers Bureau of Pakistan (FBP) president Dr Zafar Hayyat said while talking to reporters here on Wednesday.

Lamenting that the agriculture sector had badly been ignored and mismanaged by the rulers, he said the government only recently realised the seriousness of the situation after wasting precious time during which the locusts attack could have been controlled with little resources.

Seeing the present spread of locusts and reports that the insects had laid eggs in Cholistan area, it seems a lot of resources would be required to control their growth and eliminate them.

“We, therefore, demand resignation of the federal and provincial agriculture ministers, especially of Punjab, who badly failed to comprehend the situation. We also demand the government to appoint proper knowledgeable leadership who understands the issues of agriculture in depth.”

Another crucial issue was exclusion of cotton crop from the so-called Agriculture Emergency Programme of the prime minister, Mr Hayat said, demanding Imran Khan should immediately take notice of it. He demanded the premier should order inclusion of the cotton, a major cash crop, into the programme given its role in the national and rural economy.

The FBP leader also called for indigenous production of corn seed for reducing import bill and cost for the poor farmers who were already hit by financial crunch.

The seed companies should be asked to immediately start producing at least 25 percent of the required seed locally and gradually take the ratio to 100pc within five years, he demanded, arguing that the step would also help create jobs in the country.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2020