LAHORE, June 23: Farmers' community is confused about the incentives provided in the federal budget and finds certain measures ambiguous.

Pakistan Crop Protection Association chairman Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry claimed at a press conference on Wednesday that the association had reviewed the pros and cons of the budget and found that though the budget contained some positive steps for the agriculture sector, the government had failed to incorporate in it proposals necessary to enhance agricultural production.

The government did not provide protection to local pesticide manufacturers by levying a 20 per cent duty on imports so as to enable indigenous manufacturers to cope with WTO challenges. As a result, the dependence on imported pesticide was likely to remain high, he maintained.

Though duty has been reduced to zero level on the import of solvents, emulsifiers and stabilizers, there are reports about a five per cent import duty on some solvents. The government needs to remove this ambiguity.

Similarly, the government has abolished the sales tax on pesticides and brought down the general sales tax to 15 per cent. The pattern of levy also needs to be clarified, he maintained.

The PCPA has been demanding establishment of quality control boards at provincial level to ensure quality pesticides but the government did not consider this vital issue and farmers could face huge losses on account of use of substandard pesticides.

There was a dire need for farmers' education regarding modern techniques but the government neither introduced any plan in this regard nor allocated any funds on this account. Likewise, the demand for launch of a television channel for the agriculture sector was ignored, he said.

Appreciating the abolition of duty on the import of agriculture machinery, Mr Ijaz said the government must ensure its implementation, and also put the pesticides spray machines on the list of agriculture machinery.