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.
