SAHIWAL, Dec 5: Open market prices of paddy, maize and cotton have witnessed a downward trend causing the loss of millions to farmers, Dawn has learnt.

The government has fixed the paddy support price at Rs1,500 per 40 kilogrammes (kg) but in Ghala Mandi, traders are buying it for Rs950 per 40 kg. Buyers -- mill owners and middlemen -- are exploiting paddy growers in the absence of any governmental mechanism, said Chaudhry Rehmat Ali, Sahiwal Anjuman Kashtkaran president.

There are 40 rice mills in Sahiwal district and not even a single mill is buying the yield at governmental prescribed rates, said a paddy grower.

Maize and cotton growers are facing even worst conditions as the government does not fix any support prices of these two yields.

In the last week, maize and cotton prices went down from Rs800 per 40 kg to Rs500 and Rs1,700 to Rs1,200.

District Food Controller Chaudhry Mubarik Ali said as the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) was not buying paddy in the district, the prices had gown down gradually.

“Only Passco as buyer can stabilise the prices,” he said.

District Agriculture Department officials said that controlling and sustaining the crop support prices were the responsibility of district market committees. Market Committee Secretary Chaudhry Ashraf said market committees had no mechanism to arrest the downward trend.

Farmers said if the government did not take measure to arrest the downward trend, they would run short of hard cash which would affect the cultivation of wheat crop.