Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Gujral today said farmers across the country, especially in Punjab, suffered a setback due to the decision of the Union government to withdraw incentives given under a scheme for export of skimmed milk, ghee and other dairy products. The Union government had extended the incentive schemes by a year on April 11, but then decided to withdraw it within a week of its announcement with an objective to bring down the domestic prices, Gujral said. Speaking on the floor of the House today, he said Punjab had been performing extremely well in the field of export of milk products, especially ghee. "This step is against the interests of the farmers throughout the country, as cooperatives, which were exporting these products were passing on bulk of the incentives received to the farmers by way of better prices,' Gujral said. He alleged the Central government was squeezing the poor farmers to contain inflation, while rich industrialists who had formed cartels go scot-free. "Cement and steel prices have increased by over 100 per cent in a short span of time, yet the government has taken no action against large companies,' he said. In order to restrict the entry of traders and corporate houses, who would be ready to offer higher prices to the farmer, the government is creating artificial hurdles in their way, Gujral said, adding that private players have been warned to stay away from the mandis of Punjab and Haryana. "Loading of wheat on goods trains has been banned by the Centre so that the farmer is forced to sell his produce to the state. These myopic policies of the Central government further impoverish the farm sector,' he said.