LAHORE, June 30: The Farmers Associates Pakistan on Thursday condemned the government’s decision to increase the price of gas by 100 per cent for fertiliser industry in addition to 16 per cent sales tax on agriculture machinery, fertiliser, pesticides, seeds and other inputs, besides some other ‘hidden’ taxes.
In a meeting of the board of directors, the FAP regretted the relentless measures through which the government decided to destroy agriculture sector, and, by extension, the economy of Pakistan.
It further added that apart from the Withholding Tax on rice, cotton seed and sugarcane at a rate of 1.5 per cent, an increase of 100 per cent in sugar cane and cotton cess, the GST on tractors and implements, fertilisers, all agriculture inputs such as pesticides, herbicides, seed, micronutrients; this new tsunami of 100 per cent increase in gas price for fertiliser industry would result in the Urea prices to swell by at least Rs200 per bag, taking the total price beyond Rs2,000.
Such increase in the price of urea would severely affect the farmers whose cost per acre had already gone up by Rs4,000 to Rs5,000 because of GST on inputs, would now touch Rs7,000 to Rs8,000 per acre.
It lamented the cruelty of the government, especially when the price of a urea bag, as of today, cost Rs397 in India – Rs754 when converted into Pak Rupee, the DAP Rs609 and Rs1,157 (Pak Rupee). “How can Pakistani farmers compete in production when such an anomaly and injustice is meted out to them”?
The FAP said fertiliser sales data released by the National Fertiliser Development Corporation showed a sharp decline of 20 per cent (year on year) in urea and 39 per cent (year on year) in case of DAP. On a monthly basis there had been a drop of three per cent in the sales of urea and 45 per cent in case of DAP. Factually and analytically speaking, it opined that the drop in sales had been because of the phenomenal rise of 53 per cent in the price of fertiliser products since last year. “This situation should not be ignored by policymakers as it will certainly reflect in the productivity of the agriculture produce eventually remaining below the demand level causing the prices to rise manifold in the very near future, the proof of which is the recent increase in the flour prices despite surplus wheat stocks.”
It said it seemed that the policymakers were now determined to put maximum burden on the farmers to meet fiscal deficit irrespective of the plight of the economy.
The FAP would call a meeting of farmer bodies immediately to evolve course of action to safeguard interests of growers especially and the economy as a whole.
