LAHORE, June 8: A farmers’ body on Friday asked the government to fix the support price of sunflower as “it is necessary to increase its production and bring down edible oil import bill of the country”.

They said the harvesting of sunflower crop had started in the province, especially in its western part where the middlemen were charging eight to 10 per cent on their loans and paying price of their own choice.

“The government must intervene to control the situation which, otherwise, will keep deteriorating, and fix a support price of sunflower at Rs1,200 a maund,” demanded Sardar Zafar Husain of the Pakistan Kissan Board.

The farmers, he said, had proved that they could make the country self-sufficient in agriculture production provided they were encouraged.

The country was currently paying $1 billion import bill for edible oil that could be reduced drastically with better planning, he said.