KARACHI: The Sindh government has written a letter to the federal government seeking a ban on the import of tomatoes and steps to kickstart the export of onions.
Sindh Agriculture Department in the letter said that the province produced most of the country’s tomatoes and onions, and that the crops were now ripe for harvest.
“Sindh is expected to achieve a good yield of tomatoes and onions this year, but if import of tomatoes and a ban on onion exports continue, the farmers won’t be able to receive an appropriate price for these crops,” Rahu stated.
As per the letter, Sindh cultivated onion crop on 57,900 hectares in year 2019-20 and produced 782,140 metric tonnes of onions, while the crop has been cultivated at 58,200 hectares this year. Similarly, the province cultivated tomatoes on 22,542 hectares in 2019-20 and produced 164,658 metric tonnes, while the crop has been cultivated at 30,000 hectares this year.
“Farmers are failing to even meet the production costs of crops due to inappropriate federal policies,” the letter read. “Therefore, it is imperative that the Centre take steps for banning the import of tomatoes, while commerce and food security ministries should grant permission for the export of excessive onion yield.”
