Growers seek interest-free loans

MARDAN: Kissan Board President Shaukat Chadhar said that though agriculture was the mainstay of the country’s economy, farmers were being exploited, urging the government to abolish tax on agricultural produce.

He was speaking at a meeting of Kissan Board Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Finance secretary Sajjad Hussain, provincial president Rizwanullah, general secretary Abdul Samad Safi, the representatives of farmers from Swabi, Buner, Mansehra, Swat, Nowshera, Mardan, Charsadda and other districts also attended the meeting. Shaukat Chadhar said the growers were facing losses despite cultivating cash crops like tobacco and sugarcane, asking the government to take steps to provide relief to the growers.

He added the price of tobacco should be increased as the prices of seeds and pesticides had skyrocketed in the last two years. “Interest-free loans should be provided to the farmers,” he said. He added the government should encourage and provide guidance to the farmers preparing jaggery (gur). Shaukat Chadhar asked the government to lower the electricity rates for tube-wells used for agricultural purposes.

“We are mobilising the farmers and we will soon present the charter of demands to the government,” he said, adding that Rs50 billion set aside for the farmers should be spent for the betterment of the farmers.