LAHORE, Oct 3: Farmers on Friday welcomed increase in the wheat support price which, it hoped, would help meet the target.

Speaking to Dawn, representatives of various farmer organisations, claimed that it was not only the ratio (slightly above 50 per cent – from Rs625 to Rs950 per maund) of the increase, but also its timing which had come at a crucial time.

Brig Abdur Rashid (retired) of the Farmers Associate of Pakistan was of the opinion that the timely announcement of the support price increase would help farmers make calculations about the crop. The government had long been selling inputs (fertilisers, pesticides and weedicides) on international prices, he said, and it was all but natural that the output prices too should be ‘internationalised’. And the Tuesday’s increase was the first step in this direction, he added.

It would also discourage smuggling to neighbouring countries where the price of the commodity was much higher than Pakistan’s. By artificially curbing the wheat price in Pakistan, he said, the successive governments had only encouraged smuggling and ended up importing huge quantity of commodity from abroad – benefiting the foreign farmers by default.

“It is good to see that the government has ultimately realised the gravity of the situation and taken an initiative in the right direction,” he said.

Ibrahim Mughal of the Pakistan AgriForum believed that the amount of increase and timing would help the country achieve the 25-million-ton target. Although many other factors like fertiliser price and availability of water supply would also be crucial to the final yield, he said, the monetary boost had taken the pressure off the fiscal and marketing side.

The government must now plan how it could ensure other inputs and provide those at affordable prices. “It is heartening to see the government realising the plight of the farmers and responding to it. It should now respond to other factors of production and if it manages to make available fertiliser and water, the country will move fast towards food security,” Mr Mughal said.

“The government can also make money by exporting surplus wheat if it can ensure sustained production,” according to Hamid Malhi of the Punjab Water Council.