Basmati Growers Association (BGA) Chairman and Farmers Associates Pakistan Director Chaudhry Hamid Malhi has said that the exemption proposed for rice mills should be applied to all rice stakeholders. "Growers, traders, millers and exporters have suffered because of the low rice demand in the international market, so all should be facilitated equally," he said while speaking to Business Recorder on Friday.
"Cotton growers and ginners also suffered in the recent past owing to low rice prices, therefore, such an exemption should also be given to them. The government should have announced a subsidy for wheat growers since the procurement agencies could not meet their purchasing targets this year because of the presence of wheat stocks of the previous year. If these stocks are cleared by export only then the procurement agencies would be able to buy fresh stocks in coming seasons, which will ultimately facilitate the wheat growers," he observed. On the proposed reduction in sales tax on agricultural machinery and equipment to promote farm mechanisation in the country, he said that if the government was sincere then it should completely withdraw sales tax on import of and local supply of agricultural machinery and equipment. There should be zero percent duties on import of agricultural equipment, as agriculture was considered an engine of growth, he added. Malhi welcomed the decision to provide interest-free loans for setting up new solar tube wells or replacing the existing tube wells with solar tube wells. Agri Forum Pakistan Chairman Muhammad Ibrahim Mughal criticised 3.9 percent growth rate target fixed for agricultural sector. He said it was less than the growth rate of the country's population, which was about 4 percent per annum.