Local farmers, who are yet to recover from last year’s crises, have expressed concern over the inordinate delay on the part of government functionaries in announcing the support price for paddy.
Hundreds of farmers met to discuss the matter on Wednesday last. The meeting was presided over by district farmers’ association president Syed Iqbal Ahmad Shah.
The farmers regretted that instead of helping them combat the effects of the prolonged crisis, the officials concerned were aggravating the situation.
The meeting unanimously passed a resolution, urging the government to immediately announce the support price for paddy.
Meanwhile, the district government has failed to check the sale of banned paddy varieties.
The district administration banned the cultivation and sale of Super Fine and Basmati 386 varieties under Section 144 of the PPC in 1999 in a bid to overcome the crisis. However, cultivation and sale of these varieties of rice has never been checked. Stockists are selling Super Fine at the rate of Rs250 to 270 per maund and Basmati 386 at the rate of Rs210 to Rs240 in the open market in Sialkot city and cantonment, Daska, Bhopalwala, Sambrial, Ugoki, Pasrur, Chawinda, Badiana and the adjoining areas.
District officials confirmed that the ban on these paddy varieties was still in place.
Officials of the agriculture research department said the high-yield banned varieties were of substandard quality. Their production expenditures were also comparatively lower, they added.
The production of these varieties is all the more worrisome for the poor paddy grower, as the rates of other quality rice varieties have been falling since 9/11. For instance, Super Kernel is being sold at Rs950 to 1,000 per mound instead of the old rate of Rs1,100 per mound.