LAHORE, Oct 14: The government is committed to provide maximum incentives to farmers for installation of tubewells, specially in Balochistan.

This was stated by federal Food Minister Khair Muhammad Junejo here on Monday. He was presiding over a seminar on “Sugar policy of Pakistan” here at the National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA).

Farmers could be compensated by giving rebate in taxes and water cess and grant of low interest rate loans through the Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan (ADBP). The bank, he said, has been given Rs4 billion target for this year.

The government had also planned to introduce crop-maximization project and would adopt different techniques to execute the plan. About 100 villages would be included in the pilot project for the plan, he claimed.

The minister agreed with representatives of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association that the industry was facing hardships like low yields, rough weather and drought conditions. Not much could be done immediately about drought, but the government was planning other steps to facilitate the industry, he added.

Mr Junejo was of the view that due to inefficiency of industrial sector, Pakistan could not produce sugar for export on competitive price. This was despite the fact that area under sugarcane cultivation has increased this year. There was a need to increase the sugarcane yield and prepare more by-products along with maximum production of sugar, he said.