BADIN, Dec 30: Peasants, workers and activists of civil society at a conference on agrarian reforms have rejected the existing agricultural system and called for land reforms.

The conference was organised by the Badin Rural Development Society at 50-Mori near Seerani, Badin taluka. Rejecting the present agriculture system, they said this system neither ensured food for the millions of people in the country, nor it guaranteed prosperity of the workers engaged in agriculture production.

They said that the system only helped in increasing the wealth of feudal lords, military and civil bureaucracy and providing national and multinational agro-based industrialists and traders with means to control society and political domination.

The conference concluded that agrarian reforms would ensure distribution of land among peasants, including women, provision of adequate food for people, enhanced land fertility and would help reduce superfluous expenses on agriculture inputs and also environmental pollution by promoting native and traditional knowledge.

They said that agricultural reforms would ensure prosperity to the agriculture workers, rural population and entire society by freeing bonded labour, particularly women and children.

They said that there was a need to establish a direct marketing system among producers and consumers.

The agricultural reforms will purge inhuman and vicious feudal system, lead society to democracy and promote human rights, tolerance and social justice, they said.

They said that a parallel judicial system during the period of unrepresentative authoritarian governments had rendered land reforms ineffective. They demanded to get back the lands allotted to the government agencies including the military farms and distribute the same among deserving peasants and cancel the allotments under auction and reward etc.

They demanded of the government to announce support price of crops before harvest, establish procurement centres to ensure purchase of agriculture produce on support price, end the role of middlemen in sale or purchase of agriculture production and constitute cooperatives of peasants and small growers to promote a system of direct sales.

They resolved to launch a joint struggle to organise and empower peasants and agriculture workers for the acceptance and implementation of the declaration.

Adam Malik, representative of Actionaid International, Akash Ansari of Badin Rural Development Society, EDO agriculture Abdul Sattar Bhutto and a large number of farmers, agricultural workers attended the conference.