LAHORE - India is giving huge subsidy on fertilizers and electricity to their farmers in order to achieve high food targets, food security and maximum agriculture output, said Indian agriculturist Jang Bahadur Singh Sangha here on Monday. He said that the DAP is available at Rs 470 per 50-kg in India while the farmers in Punjab are being provided electricity free of cost there. He also said that the farmers were also being provided certified seeds at very low rates in India. Jang Bahadur Singh Sangha expressed these views while addressing The Nation forum here on Monday. It is important to mention here that the rate of DAP in Pakistan is above Rs 3200 per 50-kg bag, which is the main reason behind the increasing input cost in the agricultural sector in Pakistan because the Pakistani government is not giving any kind of subsidy to the farmers on fertilizers or electricity.   He said the price of DAP is Rs 470 per 50-kg all over India and there is no chance of shortage or black-marketing there. The farmers are being supplied DAP on the control rate quite easily. However, the subsidy on electricity depends on the government's policies. "At present the electricity is being given free of cost to the farmers in the India Punjab. The government in Indian Punjab, has been providing this facility to the farmers for the last one and half year," he added. He said that the universities are playing a vital role in the promotion of agriculture in India by focusing on applied research. "Our universities are producing new varieties of seeds and the extension system of our universities is very strong. The agri-scientists have a very close contact with the farmers," Sangha said. He suggested that the Pakistani government should focus on applied research by providing more funds to the result oriented research institutes besides improving the interaction of agri-scientists with the farmers. To me personally, he said, Pakistan should expand the research institutes and agri-scientists should be given long-term contracts so that everybody could perform his rightful contributions. He said that India is also focusing on seed technology and Pakistan could import certified seeds from India on very low rates as compared to the western market. He said that potato seed is being produced in India on a large-scale. He said that most of the agriculture in India is dependent on ground water and the farmers have to rely on the tube-wells, which is a matter of great concern for his country as the level of ground water is declining day by day. Mr Sangha further suggested that farmers must be provided pure and certified seed and there should be no compromise on it. He said that the farmers are being provided high quality seed of wheat in India. He said that the agriculture university is addressing the seed requirements of farmers by providing them certified seeds in Indian Punjab and we are focusing on wheat and rice farming. He said that the Indian government is also focusing on the new varieties of vegetables and food besides the wheat and rice.   He said that the Punjab is playing the most important role as far as the food security of India is concerned. The Punjab is producing 60 per cent of the wheat in India and 40 per cent rice. Responding to a question he said that Kashmir issue is a political problem and it has nothing to do with trade. He was of the view that both the India and Pakistan should focus on bilateral trade, setting aside the Kashmir issue. He said that both the countries held talks on gas project keeping the Kashmir as a separate issue recently so the trade related issued could be discussed in a similar way in future.