KARACHI: The agriculture sector deserves more attention to cater to the needs of growing population of Sindh.
These views were expressed by Sindh Governor Mohammad Zubair, while talking to a 15-member delegation of farmers, at the Governor’s House.
There was an urgent need to acquire and implement modern methods of cultivation, designed for specific crop and piece of land so as to ensure utmost agriculture yield, the governor added.
The delegation members included Raja Ansari, Raja Abdul Haq, Zain Ansari, Hameer Unnar, Yousuf Rajput, Anwar Ali Mari, Mir Ejaz Ali Talpur, Raza Chandio, Malik Abdul Ghaffar, Zahid Hussain Noon,Muhammad Moosa,Qari Noor Muhammad, Abdul Haq Phull, Irshad Ali Phull and Wahred Ali Phull. The farmers informed the Sindh governor about their problems, including non-provision of solar tube wells, non-availability of water to tail-end growers, the sale of fake pesticides and other issues.
The governor said, “Sindh is a fertile agriculture province and for getting better and enhanced agriculture yields, it was essential to ensure constant availability of water and power, research for new varieties of seeds and timely announcement of rates of crops. Use of modern techniques coupled with the availability of required facilities could usher an era of agriculture development and prosperity.”
Special emphasis was being laid on maintenance of water courses, including their cleaning and strengthening, said the governor. The bottlenecks in the water supply to tail-end growers would also be removed, he added.
Raja Abdul Haq said that no action was taken by police on the complaints of growers regarding water theft from the canals. “Fake pesticides are being sold in the province which are very harmful to crops,” he added.
Haq also asked that solar tube-wells be provided to the growers of Sindh as being done in Punjab so as to enhance productivity. Talpur informed the governor that water theft was common on both Nara and Rohri Canals, which was depriving tail-end growers of cultivation.
Hameer Unnar said that the rate of various crops was announced very late which was adding to the farmers’ hardship. “It was further informed that no meeting of water allocation committee has been held for the last five years which is against the law”. The governor said that he would speak to the concerned authorities for the resolution of these issues.
