KARACHI: The speakers of a consultative workshop on agriculture issues, jointly organised by Participatory Development Initiatives (PDI), Oxfam GB and European Commission, on Monday demanded proper implementation of Land Tenancy Act in Sindh.
They urged the country’s commercial banks to decrease the interest rate on agricultural loans for small farmers, adding the government should give subsidy to the banks for this purpose.
They also asked the State Bank of Pakistan to properly monitor bank loaning schemes and ensure transparency.
Addressing the workshop, renowned agriculture expert and former irrigation secretary Sindh, Idrees Rajput, said there was a dire need to further improve government credit institutions and advance loans to small growers instead of accommodating big landlords on political basis.
“Despite having one of the best irrigation systems in the world the small farmers of Sindh were not being helped by banks and government institutions,” said Rajput.
PDI Director Sikander Brohi, while presenting a study draft report on agricultural credit for small growers, said they were conducting a study on small farmers’ issues in two districts of Sindh – Sanghar and Dadu – and Musa Khel of Balochistan.
He underlined the need to educate small farmers so that they could adopt the best modes of farming.
Oxfam GB Programme Officer Sumayia Sajjad said that for the betterment of small farmers the role of middlemen should be abolished and small landholders should have direct access to markets. “The banks should recruit qualified mobile credit officers while a land record policy system must be transparent and easily accessible by farmers and the banking system,” she said. She demanded proper implementation of Land Tenancy Act in SIndh.
