PESHAWAR: Farmers from Swabi district on Tuesday demanded the federal government to provide them with a financial package as recent hailstorm has severely damaged their tobacco, wheat, vegetable and fruit orchards. According to sources in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the reduction in tobacco crop would mean a direct reduction in the government’s revenue in term of taxes. Last year, various companies purchased tobacco worth Rs8.5 billion from the farmers of Swabi, resulting in millions of rupees worth revenue for the FBR. He informed that the cost of Virginia tobacco crop is more than Rs300,000 per hectare, which also includes labour cost. Tobacco crops and products fall under the jurisdiction of the central government, which earns Rs150 billion annually from this crop, Yousafzai said.

Source: Pakistan Today April 28, 2020 14:37 UTC