LAHORE, July 11: The continued neglect of agriculture sector would ensure unrelenting poverty in the country, Farmers Associates Pakistan (FAP) chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi said here on Tuesday.

Briefing pressmen at the end of 107th general body meeting of FAP, he said the import of 0.85 million ton wheat, when the country had a substantial stock of its own, was a matter of concern for farmers. This was done in spite of the fact that the imported Russian wheat was not fit for human consumption.

Mr Qureshi criticised the wheat support price policy and claimed that a majority of farmers did not get the promised price of Rs415 per 40kg.

It was tragic for agriculture that the Kharif season started with 30 per cent water shortage, which delayed sowing of cotton, sugarcane and rice, he said and added that the delay could adversely affect final yield of all these crops. The water condition had been worsened by abnormal loadshedding and it was increasingly hard to run tubewells in the country, he said.