The crushing season of wheat crop has started in the country. The rate of bumper crop has led to anxiety among the farmers. The government has decided to do away with the support price mechanism. This new liberal approach is a cause of great concern for the country’s food heroes — the farmers.
Let me illustrate the farmers’ argument with an example. A farmer gets an acre of land on lease for six months at the rate of Rs40,000. The expenses include wheat seeds (Rs5,000), nitrophos fertiliser (Rs8,000), two bags of nitrate (Rs8,500), one bag of urea (Rs6,000) and insecticide (Rs2,500). The sowing cost of an acre is Rs4,000, while harvesting costs Rs5,000. The cost of irrigation for six months is Rs2,000.
The total cost comes to Rs81,000. With a per-acre yield of 35-40 maunds (40kg), a support price of Rs2,300 is needed just to break even, provided the farmer is lucky to survive inclement weather and pest attacks.
This is a serious blow to the agriculture sector and will prove disastrous for the farmers. It will shake their confidence. The farmers are a simple lot. They know how to sow, struggle and harvest the crop. The ‘business’ of farming is beyond them. They depend on the mercy of the middle- man and the government. Political parties promise to boost the agriculture sector, but when in power, they forget their vows.
Last year’s flawed procurement of wheat gave rise to great discontent among the farmers. Their concerns were blatantly ignored. Later, the chief minister in Punjab announced a ‘package’ offering cash help and subsidies related to seed, tractors and other machinery. Big land lords, politicians and influential barons took advantage of the package, while small farmers literally got nothing out of it.
The ‘package’ announced this year is not going to resolve the crisis either. It will rather add to the misery of the farmers. What is actually required is a fair price and early procurement. The facility of storage spaces will again strengthen another mafia, which will definitely sell the flour at the desired rate. This is what happened with the sugarcane crop earlier this year.
CHAUDHARY AAMIR SOHAIL
SARGODHA
