Pakistan new government must focus more on agriculture as prompt reaction to warnings by international agencies on a looming food crisis that can destabilise political dispensation by triggering riots, cautions a senator. "They must be taken seriously," said Senator Professor Khursheed Ahmed as the Upper House on Friday started a debate on price hike, the first in new parliamentary year. He asked the government to make sure the availability of inputs at an affordable price and give farmers soft loans at the time of sowing. The professor, who is also a celebrated economist and head of a think tank, suggested that the government invest more in agriculture to avert shortage of grains and other foodstuff. "The agriculture policy (of previous regimes) needs a thorough review," he opined as he moved to build a case for government to focus more on the revival of what was known as the backbone of Pakistan's shattered economy. His other suggestion was to promote agricultural research to guide growers chose suitable seeds instead of relying on imported ones. The concern by the senator came within weeks the United Nations secretary general last month sounded a warning about rocketing food prices, saying it had developed into a "real global crisis." Ban Ki-moon said the UN was very concerned and that immediate and concerted action was needed to remedy the problem. Other global agencies like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund had also come up with similar alarms, predicting the evil could push 100 million more into extreme poverty. The worse hit regions, all these warnings said, would be Sub-Saharan Africa together with South and Southeast Asia. CASH SUPPORT: The senator proposed cash support for the poor instead of subsidies on eatables through official stores, a policy previous regime tried for years but with no or little success. Prices of food items have been on the rise for almost two years now. Food inflation of late, according to official estimates, is somewhere close to 20 percent. The Professor said new government was required to tackle this more aggressively as he claimed this was what people voted it into power in parliamentary polls in February. Ahmed added public wanted change from new ruler and if they continued what the outgoing government did, it would be shocking. Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Kamil Ali Agha also backed Khursheed's point, saying the top priority for the government must be controlling prices especially of basic necessities. Combining politics with economy, Agha blamed new administration for engineering issues like restoring judges for diverting attention from real problems increasing prices of essential commodities he claimed had doubled in one month. CONTROLLED LIBERALIZATIONS: A right winger politically, Ahmed argued free market economy did not protect the poor from such shocks the world was facing currently and advocated careful government interventions. "This is what the governments across the world do. In the United States, in the European Union. They intervene when it's needed," he came up with the argument. Although the world had travelled a lot in making trade free of controls, the recent food and commodity crisis is pushing even some mighty economies to adopt a protectionist stance. This was what best suited to Pakistan also, Ahmed concluded. Copyright Business Recorder, 2008