ISLAMABAD: Terming the agriculture as the backbone of the economy, Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders (ICST) Sunday demanded purposeful relaxations for this sector in the upcoming budget to strengthening the industry.
“The agricultural sector should be given a package aimed at improving lives of millions of farmers and improving the output which is not impressive,” said ICST Patron, Shahid Rasheed Butt in a statement issued here.
The proposals of different stakeholders should be taken seriously to improve the agriculture sector which has been the major source of income for the majority of the population, he added.
Butt said that developed countries continue to pay subsidies to farmers to the tune of billions of dollars, adding the government should abolish sales tax on import of agricultural machinery and introduce reduced as well as uniform sales tax on all types of fertilizers.
Dependence on groundwater has increased therefore power tariff for agricultural tube wells should be reduced to propel production.
Banks should ease requirements for agricultural loans, he said and urged the government to continue extending and improving various subsidies and incentives already given to the farmers.
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