Kissan Board Pakistan opposes privatisation of research institutions

LAHORE: With the proposed privatisation of agricultural research institutions, farmers will be held hostage by the seed mafia and irreparable damage will be done to agriculture, claimed Kissan Board Pakistan (KBP) here Sunday.

KBP President Ch Shaukat Ali Chadhar while commenting on reports about privatisation of research institutions condemned what he called the land mafia’s plan to abolish the National Agriculture Research Council (NARC).

He added that privatisation of agricultural research institutes would make farmers hostage to the seed mafia. He expressed these views while talking to media after a high-level consultative meeting convened by the KBP.

He said the abolition of agriculture-related research institutes shows the government’s hostility to agriculture. “We call on the rulers to refrain from destroying the backbone of agriculture in the country and instead create more research institutes in addition to the existing ones,” he added.