ISLAMABAD: Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan Mian Zahid Hussain Friday said that the import bill for agricultural products is rising while the issue of food security is also becoming grave. Talking to the business community here, the business leader said more than half of the population of a country with fertile land and the world’s best canal system covering almost 25 thousand kilometres is facing malnutrition as agriculture production has been on the decline for years, he said. Zahid Hussain said that agriculture imports during the first two months of the current fiscal have almost doubled than the corresponding year to 1.5 billion dollars while the import of urea will also require a hefty amount of foreign exchange. He said that ignoring the issues confronted by farmers has left them poor and that the country cannot progress unless the farmers are comfortable. “Policymakers are obsessed with other sectors and non-issues while farming communities are left on the mercy of middlemen, loan sharks and profiteers while substandard inputs like seed, pesticides and urea continue to damage this critical sector” he added. ONLINE
