FAISALABAD City News

Govt asked to waive off GST on agri machinery
From Our Correspondent
FAISALABAD: Speakers at a seminar have urged the government for waiving off the GST and income tax on all agricultural inputs and agri machinery to enable the farmers and researchers to compete with the world and make progress in agri sector.
They demanded this during a seminar on ‘Setting Research Agenda for Precision Agriculture’ organised by the Pakistan Centre for Advanced Studies in Food Security/Agriculture funded by the USAID at the New Syndicate Hall of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad on Monday. The event was organised to find innovative solutions to solve national and global challenges related to food, agriculture and environment through excellence in education, research, outreach and policy support. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Bashir Ahmad, Director/Chief of the Policy, said that after two consultative conferences on climate change and fertilisers, the centre was holding third conference to take all stakeholders on board to device a pro-farmer policy that could solve the problems of industry. He said that on one hand the Indian government was providing an adequate subsidy to its farmers to keep them globally competitive and on the other hand to ensure the food security in the country. He termed the injudicious use of pesticides and other inputs were counterproductive as the experts were advocating a balance use of nutrients to keep the soil productive for a longer time to come.
Dr Allah Bakhsh, Dean Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, said that the yield gulf between the progressive and traditional farmer needs to be bridged. Dr Jahanzeb Cheema, Water Management Research Centre Director, said that the GIS and remote sensing data was available with various agencies that needs to be shared with the researchers and the same should be disseminated among the farmers, government organs and other stakeholder so make necessary arrangements prior to the extreme climate happenings. Engr Javed Iqbal said that in contrast to the Pakistani farmers who had to pay GST and income tax on all agricultural inputs, the Indian farmers were getting heavy subsidies on the inputs. Jamal Khan stressed the encouraging steps for processing and value added industry of fruits and vegetables to flourish the sector.