SWABI: Farmers’ organisations have demanded of the provincial government to stop development of residential societies on agricultural land as it was leading to food insecurity in the province.

The demand was made at a joint meeting of Kashtkar Coordination Council (KKC), Anjuman-i-Kashtkaran Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (AKKP) and Kisan Board (KB) held here on Wednesday.

The participants said mushrooming growth of housing societies on agriculture land was fast eating up the fertile land. They said the housing societies had already curtailed agricultural productivity, due to which the province was unable to meet its wheat needs. They feared and if the current trend continued then KP would be totally dependent on other provinces for meeting its food requirements.

Liaqat Yousafzai, a leader of growers, claimed that agriculture provided employment to about 70 per cent of population in rural areas, but fast-paced growth of housing societies was having far-reaching effect on their livelihoods.

Alam Sher Gohati, general secretary of AKKP, said it was a fact that with population explosion Pakistan needed more housing units, but the government should devise a policy to save the agricultural land.

Khalid Khan, KB Swabi president, suggested new housing schemes should be built on barren lands while protecting the fertile land.

The participants announced that they would run a campaign and would also meet government functionaries to push for steps to protect agriculture land from being eaten up by housing societies.

At a separate meeting on Wednesday, the farmers asked the purchasing companies to fix the per kilogramme rate for tobacco so they could grow the crop accordingly to avoid any surplus production.

They said the purchasing firms should convey their pricing strategy to the growers on time so they won’t have any problem selling their produce.

Wahid Zaman, a grower of Maneri Bala region, accused the companies of backing out of their crop purchasing commitments, which caused the growers dearly, and asked the firms not to exploit the poor farmers as far as tobacco pricing was concerned.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2023