HYDERABAD, March 6: The Sindh Abadgar Board has requested the Sindh government to quickly establish wheat purchase centres to keep up pace with the harvesting of the crop, which was in full swing.

A statement issued by the Board here on Thursday expressed the optimism regarding a healthy crop because of timely rains.

Pleading for an increase in the support price of wheat, the Board reminded the government that the support price had remained constant since 1999 while prices of farm inputs had risen many times over.

It said that the wheat cultivated area had been shrinking in the province because of water shortages and inordinate delay in the commencement of sugarcane crushing season as the crop is grown on the same land after the harvesting of the cane crop.

The Board insisted upon simplifying the purchase procedure, saying it should facilitate growers.

It expressed the fear that the growers would be at the mercy of the middlemen if the government failed to set up wheat purchase centres on an emergency basis, adding it would harm the already weakened economic conditions of growers.

PESTICIDES BUSINESS: The Sindh government has reconstituted the Provincial Registration Committee for registration of firms affiliated with pesticides business.

According to the Directorate of Agriculture Information, Sindh, the committee will be headed by the additional secretary technical, agriculture department, director general, Agriculture Research and Extension, deputy secretary technical, director, plant protection, plant protection officer and section officer (PP) as its members.

The committee would take up scrutiny cases of pesticides, recommend names of firms for physical verification of the infrastructure of pesticide and firms doing plant protection business in the province, check the working of pesticide firms already registered and de-register the inactive firms and implement the Agriculture Pesticides Ordinance 1971 / Rules 1973.