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Wheat procurement price
April 26: The problems
confronting Punjab government's wheat procurement
drive have forced focus on the method for fixing
the price of wheat, for that matter of any
agricultural commodity: should the administration
take a decision under some official scheme of
things or market forces be allowed to determine
them?
The government of Punjab and the PASSCO are in the
field for procuring a total of 4.9 million tonnes
of wheat from the crop now being harvested to
ensure that wheat/flour needs of the populace are
met till the next crop is harvested. Reports
inform of tough going for their efforts because of
higher rates offered by private sector buyers.
The public sector has indirectly upped its rate of
Rs. 350 for a 100 kg bag by an additional ten
rupees for the same quantity under handling and
transport heads to counter private buyers. This is
a move in the right direction but remains far
short of the sector's needs and falls below the
farmers' expectations and fair compensation of
their labour.
Consequently the gesture hasn't added to the
number of farmers accepting the public sector rate
because price-wise, private buyers still remain
ahead of the official rate and in any case, they
are in a position to set new scales.
The private sector is not in the procurement field
because of any soft corner for farmers; it is
motivated by profits and would raise the rate only
marginally to force out the competitor, the public
sector. But an additional ten to fifteen rupees
per bag mean a lot to farmers of all categories.
Financial gains understandably lure both small
landowners and leading feudal lords, the former
need the money for the next crop that cannot be
delayed and the latter for amassing more wealth as
well as for underwriting the next crop and its
seed, fertilizer and pesticides requirements.
Private sector buyers are purchasing wheat
virtually from the doorsteps of the grower,
instantly paying him cash and saving him from all
hassles. The grower's preference for them is thus
obvious and predictable; it is certainly more
profitable.
Private sector buyers do not represent a
charitable breed; the only reason they come up
with a higher price is to force the government out
of the field. The rates they offer are hence not
the best, nor are they commensurate with the cost
of inputs of the farmers, including the hard work
they invest in the fields; neither are they
comparable with international prices.
The recent abortive deal for wheat purchase from
Australia was priced at around Rs530 for the
quantity the government wants to purchase at
Rs350-360 and the value of Rs365-375 private
sector places on it.
If the rate for Australian wheat is kept in view,
the farmer remains deprived of at least Rs150 per
bag. What makes the government willing to pay more
to foreign farmers and unwilling to give
Pakistan's farmers their due?
This policy is not applied to wheat alone; the
entire agricultural spectrum is teeming with an
inequitable, indeed exploitative and palpably an
anti-farmer approach both by the government and
the private sector; agriculture is treated as a
fertile playing field for big money operators at
the expense of the tillers of the land.
Cotton growers constantly suffer. Textile millers
like to import expensive cotton in preference over
local produce; there is always a campaign to bring
down the price of cotton from Pakistan's fields.
Textile millers connive with public sector
officials for this end.
The plight of cane growers is massive and leaves
one cold; their interests are undermined by the
combined callousness of government officials and
sugar millers. Their dues remain unpaid while the
government is ever willing to purchase excess
sugar.
Edible oil imports cost the exchequer millions in
precious foreign exchange but growers prepared to
cultivate edible oil crops are not assured of a
decent price or that their produce would be
absorbed by the market. The sector indeed makes
one wonder if the government is serving special
interest elements or national interests.
Formulae milk varieties for infants are imported
but local breeders, who can provide raw material
for the commodity, are not encouraged. The vital
role livestock plays in the national economy and
the sustenance it provides to farmers is not
accorded reasonable weight.
Whatever way one turns, the view is
anti-agriculture sector, anti-farmer and in that
anti-people. This makes one conclude that naivety,
lack of area specific know-how, inability to
evaluate repercussions of policies, pressure of
foreign powers and corruption at certain levels
combine to hurt, indeed devastate national
interest.
At this point in time, the issue is official price
of wheat, the government raised it this year by
Rs50 per bag but the decision was taken late and
may not produce the desired result. This was the
first increase in wheat's price in four years.
By enhancing the price of wheat the present
government may been trying to present a democratic
profile but there has been no change in its
content and directions. Rather it should have
convinced the authorities that it can strengthen
Pakistan's economic base by promoting the farmer's
interests.
Four years ago when the price per bag was upped
from Rs. 265 to Rs. 300 the impact of the decision
was tremendous: a truly bumper crop, autarky in
wheat, surplus for export and stocks till the next
crop.
A small raise the next year would have maintained
a positive momentum. Not only the obvious was not
done, policies followed since then have virtually
brought the country back to the import square.
That hasn't happened so far but the distance
between wheat imports and self-sufficiency is
continuously shortening. Mercifully, shortage of
wheat has not occurred in the last four years but
Pakistan came perilously close to a crisis last
year.
There is another aspect of treatment meted out to
the agriculture sector. Many of the inputs used by
the farming community are imported and marketed at
their international prices.
Fertilizer, pesticides, wheedicides, implements,
etc are not accorded any concessions. However,
these factors are ignored while fixing the rates
of farm produce. This is not merely unfair but
exceptionally unjust as well.
One believes that the leadership sincerely wants
to attain food security but the policies governing
the farming sector are certain to take the country
to the opposite direction and expose Pakistan and
its populace to rampant food insecurity, if
remedial measures are not readily adopted and the
farming sector remains a target of inequity. The
government must attend to the country's food needs
without losing time if it wishes to save the
populace from hunger.
The DAWN |
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Pakissan.com; Advisory Point
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