HYDERABAD - Advisor to the Chief Minister Sindh for the Agriculture Department and senior leader of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Manzoor Hussain Wassan on Monday said general elections for National Assembly and all provincial assemblies would be held in October this year, and if the situation further aggravated then there were possibilities of postponement of the elections for another one year. He said this while talking to the media and addressing the E Balloting ceremony of distribution of Laser Land Levellers to 500 eligible farmers here at a local hotel. Provincial Secretary of Agriculture Aijaz Mahessar, Director General Agriculture Extension, Director General on Farm Management and PD SIAPEP Syed Nadeem Shah were also present on the occasion. Wassan opposed the federal government’s decision to fix the support price of cotton at Rs8,500 and demanded that the cotton price must be fixed at Rs10,000 to Rs12,000.
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If the farmers get a good price, cotton production will be increased and the textile industry will also flourish, he said. In reply to a question, the PPP leader said that he sees the situation getting worse and Imran Khan would soon be sent behind bars for his actions. He said there will be no elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) as the elections to the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies would be held on the same day. Wassan said that something is going to happen in the country which has never happened before and Imran Khan will be behind the bars very soon. Referring to recent disastrous floods and climate change, the advisor said that Rs5,000 per acre will be paid to growers and the farmers affected by the flood and in this regard, 8.5 billion rupees will be given to them through Benazir Income Support Programme. In the first phase, the amount would be transferred to farmers bearing 12.5 acres of agricultural land while in the next phase, the amount would be paid to growers having agri land from 12.5 to 25 acres, Wassan said. He said due to the increase in the prices of urea fertilizer, DAP, diesel and agricultural machinery, the landlords should get a better price of agricultural yields. Manzoor Wassan said by giving growers a better price, agricultural production will be increased and there will be no need to import agricultural commodities as a result of which foreign exchange will be saved. He said we would not be successful till introducing of modern technologies in the field of agriculture. He said the flood-affected farmers are being given awareness about climate change and they are also being given subsidies for the purchase of seeds.
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