Tobacco Growers Demand Price Revision, Inclusion in Insurance

Source from:  Daily Times (pk) 01/19/2009

ISLAMABAD: Tobacco growers have urged the government to reassess the cost of production and include tobacco in the crop insurance programme being launched by the Government. The Representatives of Tobacco growers submitted that the cost of production has undergone significant increase recently due to a number of factors and there is a need to embark upon measures to ensure fair return to the farmers. A meeting of the sub-committee of the Senate Standing Committee on Food, Agriculture and Livestock was held at the Parliament House today to discuss the problems being faced by the tobacco growers in the country and other issues related to this sector. It was chaired by Senator Shuja-ul-Mulk, convenor of the sub-committee and attended by Senators Raza Muhammad Raza, Sahibzada Khalid Jan and Dr Abdul Malik besides the Representatives of Tobacco growers, Tobacco Companies and senior officials of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). They said that tobacco is one of the most important cash crops mostly grown in selected districts of NWFP like Mardan, Sawabi, Charsada etc but the people managing the Tobacco Board are not fully conversant with the problems of the growers. They demanded that a technical person should be appointed Chairman of the Board for early resolution of their problems. Heavy increase in the cost of production due to expensive labour and inputs like seeds fertilizers has reduced the margin in the sector. They informed that this sector supports nearly 1.5 million families directly or indirectly all over the country and contribute an amount of Rs 40 billion in the form of duties to the national exchequer. The representatives of the two major tobacco companies lamented lack of availability of reliable statistical data in this field and said market research must be conducted at the government level. They said that the Government departments heavily regulate the whole sector along with the supply chain. They said that the companies and the growers are natural partners and therefore only their mutual cooperation can solve the myriad problems being faced in this sector. "If everything is entrusted to the market forces, they said, then the interest of the farmers is most likely to be damaged." They urged the Government to come down heavily on illegal manufacturers of cigarettes who are throwing up counterfeit brands. They opined that the prices of cigarettes are still very low in the country as compared to other countries of the region. Enditem