Growers seek increase in tobacco price

SWABI: The growers here on Monday asked the government to increase the per kilogram rate of tobacco.Speaking at a press conference, the representatives of Ittihad-i-Kashthkaran Pakhtun­khwa and Tobacco Growers Association Pakistan said that the value of the US dollar was increasing while the Pakistani rupee was falling against the greenback. Arif Ali Khan, Asfandyar Khan, and others said the federal Commerce Ministry had notified Rs245 as the maximum per kilogram price of tobacco for the current year.

However, they said that the Pakistani rupee had devalued and the dollar had touched the Rs210 mark. They said pesticides and fertilizers had also become costlier. They said that the farmers would incur losses if the government did not increase the per kilogram rate of tobacco.

They said the government should give incentives to the tobacco growers, provide them with pesticides at concessional rates and announce a farmers-friendly agriculture policy. The government, they said, should work for the welfare of the farmers and simplify the export process to facilitate them.

The farmers, they said, would be compelled to stage a protest if the government did not heed their demands. The federal government earn Rs130 billion through Excise Duty and Sales Tax on tobacco every year, they added. They said the tobacco companies owed millions of rupees to the growers but they were unwilling to pay the farmers. The government should help the growers in receiving their dues and take action against the tobacco mafia, they said.