Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Bosan on Thursday said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had assured him to resolve all issues related to agriculture sector including export of surplus commodities. Speaking at a news conference, the minister said he would hold a meeting with the Prime Minister next week to find a way out to resolve the issues pertaining to Pakistan Rice Mills Association (PRMA). "I will also take all representatives of PRMA with me so that they can inform the premier about the issues being faced by them," he added.
It is pertinent to mention here that few days ago PRAM had urged the government to direct Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) and Pakistan Agriculture Storage Service Corporation (PASSCO) to purchase rice from market to enable the vendors to repay their bank loans. About the import of substandard spare parts of tractors, the minister said he had raised the issue at top level and also informed Engineering Development Board about his reservations in this regard.
To a question about inquiry ordered by the Prime Minister into import of substandard wheat from Ukraine and other countries, he said an investigation into the matter was under way. He said that the senate standing committee had approved Seed Amendment Act, 2015, which would be presented in Senate for approval.
The minister said that the main objective of the bill was to end the public sector monopoly over the agriculture seed business and allow the private sector to produce basic seeds. Bosan said that the new Seed Act carried heavy fines for violation of the law. He said that during his visit to Italy he held separate meetings with the representatives of three main agencies that were FAO, IFAD and WFP. "The vice-president of IFAD assured me to launch a project for improvement of agriculture and infrastructure in Gilgit-Baltistan," he said.
The minister said that opposition leader Khursheed Shah had levelled baseless allegations against the federal government regarding agriculture sector. "The agriculture ministry has been devolved to the provinces after 18th Amendment and now agriculture is a provincial subject," he added. He said that the seriousness of Sindh government could be judged from the fact that before the devolution of agriculture ministry, it spent Rs 8 billion but after the devolution only Rs 2 billion had been spent. Bosan said that the incumbent government had decreased the import duty on agriculture machinery from 40 to 9 percent and given subsidy on the installation of solar tube-wells.
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