CHITRAL, June 2: The farmers of Mastuj town have demanded of the government to appoint agriculture officer and other technical staff in the area so that they could get timely guidance for increasing productivity of cereal crops, vegetables and fruits.

Talking to Dawn, Sher Aziz of Mastuj said that the agriculture officer based in Mastuj town was transferred in 2007 and agriculture inspector in 2011, and since then the area consisting of three union councils was managed by one junior level agriculture official.

He said that the union councils of Mastuj, Laspur and Yarkhoon were known for high productivity of apple, bean and potato, but absence of relevant agriculture staff was affecting the productivity and livelihood of the local farmers.

Mr Aziz criticised the agriculture department for ignoring the area by posting a junior grade-5 official and expecting that he would oversee agriculture production in the three union councils.

He said that fertilisers, pesticides and quality seeds were not provided timely, which had substantially reduced the productivity in the area, while diseases affecting apple gardens could not be controlled during the past five years. —Correspondent