The CM said focus should have been on reducing input costs like diesel prices and fertiliser costs for ushering in sustainability in the agricultural sector.

Badal was in Malooka village near here today to participate in the bhog ceremony of Chatin Kaur, mother of Akali leader Sikander Singh Malooka.

He dwelt upon the need for setting up an all-party expert committee comprising agri-experts to bail out state farmers from the crisis.

Badal said only 29 per cent farmers of Punjab — the state credited with making huge contribution to the national agricultural produce — stood covered under the announced loan waiver, a remark echoed by Punjab Mandi Board chairman Ajmer Singh Lakhowal yesterday, even as the Punjab Chief Secretary had reportedly stated that loan waiver would benefit 70 per cent state farmers as per initial estimates.