CHARSADDA, June 12: Farmers of Charsadda district have demanded of the government that like many other districts of the province, Charsadda too should be declared a calamity-hit district, as the farmers had suffered losses due to the long dry spell.

In a joint Press conference held at Wardaga on Tuesday, they said  if the government was sincere to develop   agriculture sector, it must withdraw taxes imposed on the farmers.

They said it was an irony that despite being an agricultural country, no relief and subsidy was available to the farmers in case of some natural calamity.

About the decrease in the rates of Gur, they said the commodity was the basic production of the plains area of the province which is liked by the people of not only the province but was also consumed in neighbouring Afghanistan and Central Asian countries. They said the Gur was the only product the price of which was fixed by the farmers and that was why the government was against this product. They said there was a big market for Gur available in the two neighbouring countries if the government lifted the ban on its export.

Yahya Jan Khan of Sur Khatki, a farmer, said the Gur prepared by him was sold Rs 500 per kg in the United States but wondered that the government still preferred the production of sugar which was sold not more than 25 rupees per kg.

The farmers of Charsadda, like other districts of the province, have formed the Farm Service Centre (FSC) in the district to protect the rights of the farmers.

Speaking at the Press conference, Zahir Khan of the FSC said the government should first discuss any project for the improvement of agriculture with the farmers before it was launched.

He criticised the marketing system and said the farmers could increase per-acre yield but the surplus product was wasted, because there was no proper marketing policy  and no proper storage system.

Taj  Khan, another  farmer, said the communication system in the district was very poor and the product of the farmers could not reach market in time. He said for developing the communication system and establishing farm-to-market roads the government should take appropriate measures. He criticized that the government was constructing roads in hilly roads where there was no need.

Aurangzeb Khan, another office-bearer, said improvement of the canal irrigation system in the district was necessary. He claimed that 32,000 acres in Shulgara and Doaba had no irrigation water while the land was quite fertile. For this purpose, he pointed out, there was a need of constructing Munda dam.

Yahya Jan Khan, a farmer, said various kinds of fruits produced in Charsadda district were unique but lamented that the government was discouraging the establishment of orchards by imposing Abiana and other kinds of taxes. He said an orchard starts production in a period of six to eight years while the government starts imposing taxes from the very first year.