Agrarian distress

Farmers are the building block of the country’s agro-based economy who work tirelessly to increase agricultural output. However, these farmers are victims of poverty and find it difficult to make their both ends meet. They work from dawn to dusk under harsh working conditions. They have no shelter from the scorching heat of the sun and are forced to remain on fields for hours. Many farmers are illiterate because of which they are unable to understand new technologies and prefer working manually. It is unfortunate that in our country there isn’t any organisation and educational institution dedicated to the training of farmers. Many farmers live in areas where water is scarce. They have to walk a few kilometres to fetch a single bucket of water. It is important that the government takes notice of the problems faced by farmers.

Training institutions should be established so that farmers can receive training regarding the use of modern technology. Subsidies should be provided to farmers so that they can use premium quality of products while sowing the field. During the harvesting season, extra help should be provided. The output so produced should be bought at competitive prices so that these farmers can also feed their families. The government shouldn’t ignore the segment of society that works day and night to achieve high agriculatural outputs.

Meer Khan

Karachi

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Farmers are facing the uphill task of making their both ends meet as the agricultural sector is no more sustainable due to the lack of financial liability. They are also facing huge losses as they fail to reap the right monetary reward for their produce. Due to the absence of synergy, farmers could adopt to new techniques because of loopholes in government schemes. The government has only provided monetary benefits to powerful sugar, textile and other agro-based industries, but has not compensated farmers. The farmers are demanding withdrawal of taxes on fertilizers to increase their off-take, which would eventually increase crop production. According to the SBP quarterly report on state of country’s economy issued on April, 06, 2018, agricultural growth is likely to remain lower than the last year as well as the target set for FY2018.

Also, permanent solution of farmers’ marketing related problems could be solved by strengthening the mechanism of minimum support price for safeguarding interest of farmers. The farmers demand compensation for rising cost of pumping ground water as they are relying heavily on diesel and electricity tube wells due to persistent shortage of canal water which increases cost of production manifold. There is a need to increase farm production and exports and poverty alleviation would only be possible if the agriculture become the engine of growth. An innovative approach is needed to convert subsistence-centric agriculture into market-oriented farming.

Khan Faraz

Peshawar