HYDERABAD, May 30: The Sindh Abadgar Board in its pre-budget proposals submitted to the federal finance minister on Saturday said that Sindh had been unable to achieve maximum crop production in recent years due to shortage of water.

The board disclosed that some growers had started cultivation of poppy in Sindh which was not a healthy trend. It reminded the minister that the parliamentary committee on water had mentioned that 47MAF water was being wasted along canals and fields which was more than the quantity of eight Kalabagh dams.

The SAB proposed the introduction of integrated water resource management for the lining of water-courses at a cost of Rs100 billion and claimed that it would save more than 30MAF precious water.

The board was of the view that the lining of water-courses could be completed within four years. It also recommended precision land levelling. The board expressed shock over the non-implementation of the 1991 Water Accord even for a single day.

It demanded that the accord should be implemented in letter and spirit to enhance the agricultural produce in Sindh. The board termed the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority as a white elephant which was launched with a whopping budget of Rs25 billion with strong institutional support of donors but it had contributed nothing to the agriculture economy.

The SAB pointed out that the agriculture sector paid Rs23 billion per annum as general sales tax including fertilizers, sugar and pesticides. It said that this was in addition to the provincial taxes such as land revenue (Dhal) and water charges (Abyano).

It recommended that the GST on major inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides should be withdrawn. It stressed the need for streamlining the agriculture export and proposed that one junior minister should be appointed to handle agricultural exports.