HYDERABAD, April 24: The government has set aside Rs900 million, to be raised by Rs800m in the next financial year, to help growers to increase per acre yield of their produce, according to Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister on Food and Agriculture Murtaza Khan Jatoi.

Mr Jatoi said in a meeting with the officials of Agriculture Department and progressive growers at the Circuit House here on Monday, that the growers would be provided tube-wells, threshers and sprinkle and drip irrigation systems from the allocation at discounted rates.

The sprinkle and drip systems, for which the government had allocated Rs60 million in the current year, would save water by 50 per cent, he said, adding that the allocation would be raised by 100 per cent every year.

He said that work on the installation of tube-wells had already started in all the districts, and the government had targeted to install 1000 tube-wells in the first phase. The process would cost Rs177 million of which the growers would have to pay only 50 per cent of the total, he said.

Those who wanted to buy the machines should submit their applications to the Agriculture Engineering Department; he advised but made it clear the threshers would be provided on first-come-first-served basis.

The advisor took serious notice of the growers’ complaints about non-payment of outstanding dues and directed the Sindh cane commissioner to issue notices to the sugar mills and ensure they pay without any further delay, and report him back within 15 days.

In response to another complaint, he instructed the Agriculture Extension Department to publish the names of registered pesticides companies and dealers in the local newspapers to arrest the sale of substandard and adulterated products.

Mr Jatoi also directed that the Sindh Facility Board should be reactivated.

Secretary Food Ghulam Adil Shaikh, DGs Agriculture Engineering and Agriculture Extension Agha Zafarullah Durrani and Mohammad Naeem Korejo, Director Food Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah, Director On-farm Water Management Irshad Ansari, President Sindh Chamber of Agriculture Syed Qamaruzzaman Shah, President Sindh Abadgar Board Abdul Majeed Nizamani, Major (Rtd) Omer Farooq and Syed Nadeem Shah attended the meeting.

SPSWA: The Sindh Paramedical Staff Welfare Association (SPSWA) warned in a meeting on Monday to stage hunger strike unto death outside the Karachi Press Club from May 4, if its demands were not met by the end of current month.