UNISAME DEMANDS SUPPORT FOR SME FARMERS ON WORLD FOOD DAY

The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) in a meeting at the union’s office commemorated the World Food Day on 16th October and invited the attention of the government to the lack of attention to the SMEs farm sector which is the main source of food for the masses.

President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said agriculture is the back bone of the economy and the primary sector is the source of food for the country, exports and raw material for the industry and cannot afford to be neglected.

The issues of poverty, starvation, under nourishment and hunger can be resolved only through efficient agricultural produce.

Pakistan is an agricultural country and is blessed with cotton, rice, wheat,sugarcane, maize, pulses, fruits and vegetables and also has livestock, dairy, poultry and fishing but unfortunately neglected. The legislators are more concerned about themselves than the constituencies they represent. Instead of taxing agriculture they are taxing farm inputs which is increasing production cost whereas tax on agriculture will be only on agricultural income.

Our farms are not rejuvenated and we are not modernizing our farms and orchards. The insecticides and pesticides supplied are of poor standards, the seed factories have become old and orthodox, the fertilizers are very costly and have become expensive for the SME farmers. Our yields per acre have become very less as compared to our neighboring countries which are twice our yield.

The farm inputs are heavily taxed as a result the cost of production is much higher than in competing countries. As a result our exports have fallen.

This year the major crop growers, processors and exporters are in deep trouble due to global slow down and are not even recovering their cost of production. There are ample stocks of last year and new crops are on the threshold.

It is very strange that although prices of commodities have reduced to almost half yet the benefit has not been passed on to the consumers.

UNISAME participants complained about corruption in every department especially the irrigation, agriculture and works where huge amount is spent on repairs and maintenance only on paper and the farms are left without water due to blockage of canals.

UNISAME committee urged the relevant ministries to seriously look into the issues of the SME farmers and take concrete steps to improve the food supplies for the masses.

Thaver thanked the philanthropist of the country for serving free food to the poor and hungry on a daily basis and prayed for their welfare.

Haji Muhammed Saeed chairman of SME Farmers Association (SMEFA) said the government needs to exempt all farm machinery and equipment from all levies, duties and taxes.

Secondly the government needs to declare support price for major crops.

Thirdly instead of distributing cash allowances the government needs to subsidize the fertilizers and farm inputs to enable reduce the cost of production.

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