Representative organisations of farmers' community have urged the new government to reduce interest rate on agricultural loans from 16 percent to five percent. Kisan Board Pakistan and Agri-Forum Pakistan leaders also urged government to make agricultural research more effective, double funds and open the doors of research institutes 24 hours for the peasants to ensure solution to their problems and produce new high yield and disease resistant varieties. Agri-forum Pakistan Chief Muhammad Ibrahim Mughal told Business Recorder on Tuesday that the government should immediately announce construction of Kalabagh Dam for producing enough water for irrigation purposes. He also said that the government should cut down prices of agricultural inputs by 35 percent and freeze them for next three years. Similarly, he said that prices of agricultural produce should also be freezed for the same period. He claimed that research in the agricultural sector had been given on contract to private sector in Punjab province and it should be given back to the government sector. He said that the government should take decisions regarding agriculture in consultation with the agricultural community. He also said that besides reducing the interest rates for the agricultural community, the government should announce provision of interest free loans to farmers having less than 1.5 acres of land. Kisan Board Pakistan President Sardar Zafar Ahmad and spokesman Akhtar Farooq while talking to this scribe said that the government should give subsidy on all the inputs especially in the prices of diesel and fertilisers. They said that government should write off loans given to farmers having 4-5 acres of land while from owners of up to 10 acres only principal amount should be received and interest should be waived off. They said that the role of Seed Corporation in the Punjab province could be enlarged and government should pay attention towards it. They said that livestock farmers should be given interest free loans to develop this sector to meet the growing demand of meat in the country. On the sugarcane issue, the Kisan Board demanded that the government sit with representatives of farmers and sugar millers to devise some permanent solution to the issue. They said at present DAP fertilisers were almost being imported but the government should develop some mechanism to control the prices of urea fertilisers. They said that the government should also promote organic farming in the country. Copyright Business Recorder, 2008