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MARDAN, July 24: Growers have sought financial support from the government, saying that they have suffered huge losses due to the recent rains, which damaged their crops and vegetable farms.
Syed Rehman Mohmand, a local farmer, told journalists at the Mardan Press Club that the rains badly affected sugarcane, maize and vegetable crops, saying that the government should extend financial support to the poor farmers.
He said that the growers could not bear the losses, as the prices of all commodities, including seed, pesticides, labour and fuel, had gone beyond their reach. Syed Rehman said that the government should announce interest-free loans for the poor farmers.
He said that the tobacco purchasing companies were also fleecing the growers, as they had fixed the price at Rs69 per kilogramme, while it cost Rs90 to the growers to produce one kilogramme of tobacco leaves. The farmer demanded of the local MNAs and MPAs to resolve the growers’ problems on priority basis.
ALLEGED THIEVES HELD: Mardan police claimed to have arrested an alleged gang of seven thieves involved in stealing the safety net on both sides of Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway (M-1) near Toru on Thursday.
A press release said that the police acting on a tip-off raided the area and arrested seven accused, who were cutting the safety net. The police team was headed by SHO Toru Police Station Shah Mumtaz.
The detained men were identified as Firdos, Javed, Syed Imam, Fida Hussain, Anwar Ali and Ashiq. All of them belong to the Chamkani area of Peshawar. The police also recovered the stolen net and two pistols from their possession.
