HYDERABAD: The Sindh Abadgar Ittehad (SAI) has urged the federal government to immediately impose a tariff on imported Iranian tomatoes, warning that the influx threatens to undercut local farmers amid a bumper tomato harvest in Sindh.
At a meeting held on Wednesday in Hyderabad, chaired by SAI central president Nawab Zubair Ahmed Talpur, growers said there was no justification for tomato imports when the province’s crop was in peak season.
They described the situation as a major injustice to Sindh’s farmers and called on the government to protect domestic producers through timely policy intervention. The meeting also expressed strong concern over the import of sugar, noting that sugar mills in Sindh are currently operational, yet 80,000 metric tonnes of sugar have been imported from Brazil and the United Arab Emirates.
The growers said that when large stocks of sugar already exist in the country, importing more makes no economic sense.Expressing disappointment over the failure to provide a fair price for paddy, the meeting noted that rice is being exported in large quantities, yet growers are not being paid a reasonable rate for their produce.
The farmers said that the prices of fertilisers from DAP to urea are being increased every week, while vegetable and crop prices remain stagnant. When growers are not getting fair rates for their produce, what logic is there in raising fertiliser prices every week? they questioned.
The meeting further said that instead of launching a fertiliser subsidy scheme for wheat cultivation, the government should directly reduce fertiliser prices in the open market. Although the scheme has been announced and forms are being collected, implementation is yet to begin, they complained.
The growers also urged the government to immediately issue the notification reducing agricultural income tax from 45 per cent to 15 per cent, as announced by the chief minister of Sindh, saying the delay has caused uncertainty among farmers.
SAI warned that government negligence, failure to ensure fair crop prices, rising fertilizer rates, and the sale of counterfeit seeds and fertilisers would lead to a decline in wheat cultivation, resulting in a harvest far below official expectations.
Regarding the water situation, the meeting expressed partial satisfaction but criticised the creation of artificial shortages in the tail-end areas of Sindh despite overall increased water availability. The farmers condemned this practice and demanded that the artificial shortages be ended immediately.
