MULTAN, June 24: Former National Assembly speaker Syed Fakhar Imam has said the only way to cope with the rampant socio-economic evils of unemployment and poverty is to invigorate the agriculture sector by making grower-friendly policies.

Talking to Dawn here on Thursday, he said the so-called "Kissan package" announced by the government would not help growers meet better prospects. He said the agriculture sector constituted 24 per cent of the GDP and absorbed 43 per cent of the country's labour force. About 74pc of the country's exports were based on agriculture and its value-added products.

This sector contributed to the welfare of around 70 per cent of the population in one way or another, he said. Unfortunately, he added, the terms of trade in the sector had been adversely pitted against the agriculture community for the last 50 years. He quoted economists as saying that resources worth Rs30 billion to Rs40 billion had been transferred to the urban sector in the last 30 years.

The government should take stock of the situation so that the most productive segment of the economy might not suffer any longer. Besides, it should take certain short-term and medium-term steps measures to turn the agriculture a profitable business.

Mr Imam said in the short-term measures the cost of inputs, including electricity, diesel, fertilizers, pesticides, seed, and mechanization, be rationalized to give a the farmers a level playing-field to compete in the world.

"The cost of inputs should be reduced even if we have to subsidize them for the time being," he stressed. He said extending subsidies to the farmers should not be a problem right now when finance minister Shaukat Aziz was boasting that the country would no more take dictates from the IMF.

He said the low-cost inputs would enable the farmers to invest more in their crops to get better per-acre yield, especially in case of cotton, wheat, rice and sugarcane.

Referring to medium-term measures, the former speaker stressed the need to invest in physical infrastructure such as laser-levelling units, lining and improvement of water channels, farm to market roads, and rural electrification.

Nearly 45 per cent of the rural Pakistan had yet to be supplied electricity. Criticizing the deteriorating standards of research in the farm sector, he underlined the need to set up an independent body to evaluate the performance of agricultural universities and research institutes.

According to Mr Imam, the high-value farm products like fruit and vegetables be given a focused priority along with floriculture to broaden the export base of the country. He urged that the crop insurance should be fashioned in the country, initially as a pilot project in some 10 districts.