PESHAWAR: Farmers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and tribal districts have started preparing lands for wheat crops, however, prices of fertilisers and seeds have shot up this year, making purchases next to impossible for the cultivators.
Farmers further complained that in addition to expensive seeds, land preparation has also become too costly due to high petroleum prices, making it difficult for them to look after agriculture lands in the province.
Noman Khan, a farmer from Charsadda, told Profit that landlords are facing severe difficulties in preparing lands for wheat crop due to rising prices of transport, seeds and fertilisers for the 12th year in a row.
He said that the lands of KP are suitable for almost all kinds of crops, vegetables and fruits. However, the government has never focused its attention on the uplift of the agriculture sector.
“In addition to wheat and maize, various types of vegetables and fruits including sugarcane, tobacco and poppy are also grown here and exported to other provinces of the country as well as Afghanistan and Central Asian countries,” Khan said.
It may be noted here that in Pakistan, very little budget is allocated for agriculture, which hinders agricultural development and the solution of farmers’ problems.
Noman Khan and other farmers urged the government to focus on agriculture like other sectors of the country. “The provision of seeds and fertilisers at affordable rates and agricultural loans would not only solve our problems but also enable the farmer community to play its role in stabilising the country’s economy,” they said.
On the other hand, officials of the KP Agriculture Department said that seeds would soon be available at cheaper prices. They said that wheat seeds had to be imported in large quantities from Punjab for Kharif season at a high cost, however, farmers would now be provided with wheat produced by the province itself.
Officials claimed that seeds are available at low prices in the province as wheat is available in abundance.
They said that the agriculture department is working on various projects to increase agricultural production so that the province can be self-sufficient.
