Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum's (PBIF) president Mian Zahid Hussain has demanded of the government to focus its attention towards agriculture sector as the country's 80 per cent exports is linked to it. "Development of agriculture sector is linked to farmers' prosperity and as such it should not be put on the back burner," he added.
In a statement issued here on Wednesday, he said that 69pc of cultivable land is in Punjab where 80pc cotton, 63pc sugarcane, wheat, rice and other products are produced and hence the province should get an extra attention.
"Although prime minister has announced a package amounting to Rs 341 billion for farmers, still the country's agricultural production is not satisfactory," he opined, saying exports of rice, cotton and textiles continue to fall, while production of yarn and cloth was unsatisfactory. The PBIF chief was of the view that tractors' demand in the country has declined by 47pc merely because of dwindling agriculture production, low commodity prices and the collapse of cotton crops. "Agricultural development is also linked to reduced input prices, quality seeds and pesticides, and loans for which we lack a transparent and an effective system and thus putting growers on the mercy of `loan sharks'," he said, urging the government to help improve the quality of life of planters. Lauding the measures announced by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for boosting agricultural sector, he hoped that such steps would be implemented without any further delay.