ISLAMABAD, Feb 24: Kissan Board, a representative body of farmers, has announced that it will soon launch a countrywide protest campaign if the government failed to withdraw cess on agricultural inputs.

Mohammad Ibrahim Mughal, the secretary-general of the Board, told reporters at a local hotel on Monday that the discrimination against agriculture sector had created crises one after the other, pushing the Kissan Board towards launching an agitation against the government.

He demanded of the government to immediately cut down the electricity charges for agriculture to half and reduce the prices of diesel from Rs20 per litre to the earlier price of Rs16. He also asked the government to increase the support price of cotton from Rs800 per maund to Rs1,500, while that of wheat should be fixed at Rs400, rice Rs550 and sugarcane Rs50.

If the government did not heed to our demands, the farmers' community from all the provinces would launch a protest from the federal capital, he declared. He asked the government to immediately form a committee in which representation should also be given to the peasant bodies to devise policies, which should benefit the agriculture sector.

He also demanded of the government to immediately abolish import duties on machineries meant for improving agricultural produce. Mr Mughal deplored that the government had earmarked a loan of Rs50 billion for agriculture sector on 11 per cent mark-up while loans were being extended to the industrial sector at 6 per cent mark-up.

He rejected the World Bank loan offer for agriculture sector and asked the government that if the WB was serious in helping Pakistan it should negotiate loan for establishing facilities to produce phosphorous and potash fertilizers or help the country set up high technology equipment for agriculture.

The government has fixed an export target of $10 billion, he said, but claimed that the target would never be achieved because our exports were heavily dependent on agriculture which was facing crisis in cotton, wheat, sugarcane and poultry.

He alleged that the agriculture department was itself involved in adulteration in pesticides, fertilizers and diseased seeds. He said the total volume of agriculture sector was Rs1,000 billion but no refinancing in this important sector was being done to improve environment conducive for high yield. He said 75 per cent of the population was associated with the agriculture sector which provided jobs to 40 to 50 per cent population.