ISLAMABAD, Nov 27: The Parliamentarians Commission for Human Rights on Thursday expressed concern over the failure of Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Supply Corporation (Passco) to pay officially promised payment to rice growers in the Punjab.

In a statement, commission chairman Riaz Fatyana warned that thousands of farmers would not be able to grow wheat due to non-payment to rice growers.

Mr Fatyana urged the government to direct the Passco to give relief to farmers so that they can grow wheat and play an active role to combat flour crisis in the country. He called for formulating farmer-friendly policies and providing maximum relief to them so that they are encouraged to play their role in eliminating food crisis.

He added that although the Punjab government had announced that sugar mills would be opened for crushing on Nov 15, no sugar mills had opened so far due to which farmers were facing immense difficulties.

The chairman further stated that there was food insecurity in almost each district of the province disclosing that out of 34 districts in the Punjab, only nine were food secure while in the NWFP, only five out of 16 districts were food secure.

In Balochistan, out of 25 districts, only four were food secure, he said, adding Pakistan was facing serious challenges in agriculture sector and had been termed food insecure.