Tarin for empowering farmers by offering interest-free loans

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin held a meeting with SAPM on Food Security Jamshed Iqbal Cheema on Farm Gate Pricing at the Finance Division on Tuesday.

SAPM on Revenue Dr Waqar Masood, the secretary, Finance Division, and the additional secretary, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, also attended the meeting.

The meeting reviewed the existing farm gate price mechanism and the problems faced by the farmers in transporting the perishable commodities, particularly vegetables and fruits, to the nearest market or first point of sale. The role of middleman was discussed during the meeting, who makes money at the expense of farmers particularly with small and marginal landholdings.

The Finance minister stated that achieving economic sustainability is the biggest challenge in the field of agriculture. There is a need to boost farm productivity by facilitating farmers through interest-free agriculture loans so that they get fair share of their produce. The dominance of middlemen needs to be curtailed effectively. By eliminating the role of middlemen, the growers would get 35-40% higher return of their agricultural produce, he added.

The Finance minister stressed the need to empower farmers by offering interest-free loans. He discussed modalities for provision of microcredit to farmers enabling them to purchase fertilizers, pesticides and other basic inputs through syndicate of banks and microfinance institutions. The provision of interest-free loans to small farmers would transform the agricultural sector and end exploitation by the middlemen. The underlying rationale is to pave way towards sustainable farming by offering interest-free loans with maximum flexibility. He directed working out a mechanism for disbursement of microcredit to farmers with smaller landholdings.

The Finance minister discussed a multi-dimensional approach to streamline agro-industry. He underlined the need to build commodity warehouses and cold storages facilities for farmers throughout the country, enabling them to transport perishable commodities (kitchen items) to the point of sale in time. He stressed the need for building strategic reserves for essential commodities.