Farmers, traders cry against proposal to ban onion exports

KARACHI: Growers and exporters have refused to accept any move on part of the federal government to put a ban on the export of horticultural crops, particularly tomatoes and onions, in view of an expected bumper crop.

All Pakistan Fruits and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA) in a letter to Adviser for Commerce and Investment Abdul Razzaq Dawood on Monday said the government’s plan to ban the export of tomatoes and onions would hurt growers.

Recently, the finance minister had directed Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of National Food Security and Research to impose a ban on tomatoes and onions for three months after consultation.

However, the association said that despite being an important stakeholder, it was not consulted before making such a plan. A meeting of the Sindh Abadgar Board in Hyderabad rejected the proposal of a ban over agriculture exports. “Any decision taken in this regard without understanding ground realities and taking stakeholders in confidence will not be beneficial for the long-term sustainability of agriculture or food security in Pakistan,” the meeting said.

The meeting noted that the cost of production in Pakistan was one of the highest in the region. Seed, fertiliser prices have risen by 50 percent to 110 percent in just 12 months. The prices of other inputs like diesel, pesticides have also increased.

Therefore, regulating prices without understanding the cost of production would be detrimental to agriculture. “Last year onion import was open and export was stopped in October when onion was being harvested. The prices of onion crashed from Rs45 at the farm gate to Rs8 per kilo,” the meeting noted.

Lamenting the proposal, Sindh growers reminded that there was neither a support price nor any incentives to enable such a decision. India controlled the cost of inputs and guaranteed the minimum support price of 22 agricultural products.

“Since there is no support price or incentive given in horticultural production (in Pakistan), there is no logic in halting exports,” growers said. Discussing the shortage of containers, exporters said coupled with this, the situation was already challenging as freight charges have tripled in recent times. Directly or indirectly, all these inefficiencies and costs were being borne by the farmers. “There is, therefore, a need to support horticultural export in these challenging times,” growers added.

Farmers also pointed out the irrigation issues as well as subsidies. District Qambar Shahdadkot, Taluka Khairpur Nathan Shah, areas of Dadu canal, and tail end areas either received water very late, or did not receive the required water, which forced farmer to abandon paddy sowing or resulted in a delay in cultivation.

Participants from these areas said that though production would be affected because of water issues, the government should at least take steps to make available the necessary resource for the next season and Kharif of 2022.

The meeting also discussed the need for improving infrastructure and water governance to support small and medium-sized growers in these areas. It was also mentioned that, unlike Punjab, in Sindh, these areas even did not have underground water fit for irrigation.

Discussing the subsidies, the meeting noted that there were subsidies on fertiliser and seeds in Punjab but growers of Sindh were deprived. The meeting was presided over by Mahmood Nawaz Shah, while Syed Nadeem Shah, Dr Bashir Nizamani, Aslam Mari, Imran Ali Bozdar, Abdul Khaliq Khoso, Ishaq Khan Mugheri, Arbab Ahasan, Wajid Ali Chandio, Murad Ali Shah Bukerai, and others attended it.