Staff Reporter
Karachi
Patron in Chief All Pakistan Fruits and Vegetables Importer and Exporters Association and former Vice president FPCCI warned that about 150 containers of onions stuck at the port, if not cleared, they will perish. Farmers had been booking losses for near four years and if they didn’t earn, they would go out of business, he said.
Ahmed explained that if farmers don’t get a good price, they will not grow produce, which will also hurt local consumers in the long run. This year was good, some of them got back into profits on the back of exports and strong local prices. This will incentivize them to grow more next year and there will be higher production, which will keep prices in check.
“We need to achieve a balance where both consumers and growers can benefit, but for that the government needs to make a long-term policy and increase focus on research and development,” he said. Giving an example, Ahmed said only a few months ago tomatoes were selling at Rs400, but now it’s selling at Rs5 to Rs10 in the mandi (wholesale market).
With such a low price, growers lose money because of the high cost of production. The government needs to ensure good agriculture practices and focus on research to help farmers increase yield and lower the cost of production, Waheed said, which will lower prices in the long term.
He warned that the country could face a severe food crisis in a decade if it didn’t respond to climate change and its impact on agriculture. Rain and weather patterns are changing, which changes diseases and pests’ patterns, but who will tell this to the farmer, he added.
