CHARSADDA, Oct 2: Leaders of farming community here have urged the government to fix support price of tobacco and sugarcane keeping in view the rising cost of production.

The demand was made by office-holders of Farm Services Centre, Kisan Board, Chamber of Agriculture, and other such organisations at a press conference here. They included Zahir Shah Wardagah, Abdullah Jan, Arbab Sattar, Abdul Akbar, Niamat Shah Sawaldher and others.

They said that the government should fix support prices of tobacco and sugarcane keeping in view expenditures on crop production, revive the sick unit of Charsadda Sugar Mills and allow export of gur and white poplar to Afghanistan and other markets. They also sought representation of farmers on boards of various crops, ban on commercialisation of farmland and a new agriculture policy to resolve growing problems of the country’s farming community.

They warned to stop cultivating tobacco if the Tobacco Board did not resolve their genuine problems such as fixation of crop prices. The farmer leaders also decided to start a joint struggle for acceptance of their demands.

They criticised the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for not taking any action on complaints of farmers.

They said that tobacco was a cash crop and needed government’s attention to ensure that farmers were facilitated properly. They said that in last season the government earned Rs70 billion revenue from tobacco crop, while only Rs14 billion went to the farmers.

They regretted that due to the government’s anti-farmers decision the sugarcane growers suffered a loss of Rs20,000 per four kanals. They suggested that prices of crops should be fixed with the mutual consultation of farmers and industrialists. They demanded of the government to fix sugarcane price at Rs250 per 40kg.

They called for bringing down prices of urea and other fertilisers to enhance productivity of crops.