Islamabad, November 21, 2022 (PPI-OT):The National Assembly Special Committee on Agricultural Products unanimously elected the Speaker National Assembly Mr. Raja Pervez Ashraf as Chairman of the Special Committee on Agricultural Products.
The Speaker thanked the members for reposing confidence in him. He stated that given the recent evolving dynamics within the country and beyond, the agenda of food security and agricultural development has assumed central importance. He expressed hope that, given the support of the seasoned members of National Assembly, the Committee would strive to make better decisions to accelerate Pakistan’s agro-economic growth.
The members expressed that the election of the Speaker National Assembly as Chairman of the Special Committee on Agricultural Products would add significant value to the decisions pertaining to agriculture sector. The members regretted that despite being an agrarian economy, Pakistan relied on imported agricultural products to meet its domestic demand.
The members underlined the need to address long-standing problem of farmers’ access to cheap credit, improved research to enhance productivity and improved mechanisms for profitability of the farmers.
The Committee deliberated on the delay in fixing the support prices for wheat and sugarcane and sugarcane crushing season respectively. The members regretted that given the deadlock regarding permission to export surplus sugar and subsequent delay in initiating sugarcane crushing is causing considerable losses to the poor farmers.
They urged the Government to negotiate with the sugar mills owners, verify the available stock and grant them the permission to export the surplus sugar. Doing so would permit them initiate sugarcane crushing on time and thus relieve the farmers, they added.
The Minister for National Food Security and Research maintained that the without a credible and verifiable evidence of surplus stock, the Government cannot grant the permission to export sugar. Citing previous precedents, he stated that sugar export permission was granted, however, owing to subsequent shortage in the country, expensive sugar imports were undertaken.
The members urged the Minister National Food Security and Research to adopt a flexible approach in negotiating with the sugar mills owners and devise a mechanism to export verified surplus sugar. He maintained that meeting in this regard has been convened on Thursday.
One of the members maintained that cartelization and monopolization within the sugar industry and their ability to influence state policies for their personal gains is an unaddressed question. She urged the Ministry of National Food Security and Research to devise mechanisms to encourage other forms of ownership in the sugar industry.
They members stated that early announcement of the support prices, before sowing, signals better profitability and incentives to cultivate crops. It was highlighted that so far the Federal Government has not reached a conclusive decision with regards to support price for wheat.
The Minister National Food Security and Research stated that the provinces’ divergent decisions caused the delay in setting the support prices. He assured that the matter would be resolved in the next meeting of the Cabinet. He also added that the package for the agriculture sector is also pending the meeting of the Cabinet.
The Meeting was attended by Mr. Raja Pervez Ashraf, Speaker National Assembly, Minister National Food Security and Research, Mr. Tariq Basheer Cheema, Minister for Commerce, Syed Naveed Qamar, Nawab Sher Wassi, Dr. Nafeesa Shah, Ms. Mehnaz Akbar Aziz, Ms. Wajeeha Qamar, Mir Khan Muhammad Jamali, Mr. Sajid Mehdi, Muhammad Moeen Wattoo, Syed Abrar Ali Shah, Dr. Muhammad Afzal Khan Dhandla and Zulfiqar Ali Behan.
For more information, contact:
Secretary,
National Assembly of Pakistan
Automation Centre, National Assembly Secretariat,
Parliament House, Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel: +92-51-9221082-83
Fax: +92-51-9221106
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.na.gov.pk