LAHORE, Oct 16: Farmers’ bodies have rejected the Rs15 per 40kg increase in the wheat support price as meagre compared to the production cost. Sadique Ahmad Khan Kanju of the Kissan Board Pakistan says that average per acre yield in the country has been stagnant at 25 maunds for the last many years.

By that yardstick, a farmer will get additional Rs360 per acre with new support price coming into effect. On the other hand, he will have to spend Rs700 to Rs800 extra on two counts — diesel and fertiliser, leave alone other inputs. “It has taken away Rs700 on two heads and returned Rs360 only,” Kanju claimed.

The government concentration, according to him, has been on raising wheat acreage after its failure to enhance yield. The new support price, he warned, would make it even harder to increase acreage because of little incentive.

Ibrahim Mughal of the KBP thinks that the government has insulted its own consultative process by increasing price by such a small margin. The Cost of Production Committee, which determines cost of production after a thorough, painful and long consultative process has recommended a price of Rs500 per 40kg. If the government has to ignore the recommendations of the committee so arbitrarily, why it asks it (the committee) to undergo the same exercise every year? he wondered.

He said that the government could increase support price to Rs500 per 40kg and subsidise urban consumers. The official agencies hardly purchase 20 per cent of the entire production. If the government could not subsidise this 20 per cent worth millions, it should get ready to import wheat worth billions.

An official of the Farmers Associates Pakistan (FAP) claimed that government had once again disappointed the farmers’ community. The increase, he said, would neither help raise the acreage nor per acre yield.

The cost committee, he said, had reviewed every cost head and debated it thoroughly before finalising its recommendations. But the government ignored it completely.