Govt flayed for not announcing Phutti support price

MULTAN: The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam has criticised the government for not announcing the Phutti support price.

Talking to journalists at his residence here on Saturday, PML-Q senior leader Malik Mureed Abbas Bappi demanded Prime Minister Imran Khan take notice of it. He also demanded Minister for National Food, Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam announce the Phutti support price in consultation with Prime Minister Imran Khan at the earliest. He said that the government should take initiatives to save the cotton crop with the help of

the provincial governments. He said that maximum area be brought under the cotton crop cultivation in Balochistan where staple length was far better than other areas of the country.

Elaborating the incentives for farmers, Bappi said that the government should immediately announce the support price of Phutti, besides providing electricity, fertilizers, pesticides and quality seeds on subsidised rates to the farmers at their doorsteps.

The government should also announce cash rewards for the growers, agricultural scientists, researchers and other stakeholders, he added. He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan should constitute a high-powered committee to resolve this crucial issue. The researchers must evolve new heat and disease-resistant varieties while the Seed Corporation should ensure supply of well germinated seeds to increase the per acre yield, he added. Bappi said that non-announcement of the Phutti support price would not only destroy the agriculture sector, but also cause a decline in the economy. He said that Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam was very honest and a seasoned grower. He said that Fakhar was personally making efforts to uplift the agriculture sector, but the bureaucracy and opportunists were allegedly creating hurdles in it. He said that Fakhar Imam should brief the prime minister about the situation and if the Phutti support price was not announced, then it would miserably disappoint the farmers at a large scale. The cash crop was already facing a decline in the under cultivation area, he added.

The natural calamities and rains were also destroying the fields.