Although the provincial governments are little inclined to raise wheat support prices for various reasons, some legislators are of the view that any denial or delay in revising the prices could lead to a ‘crisis’ in the food sector.

The legislators, members of National Assembly’s standing committee on National Food Security and Research (NFS&R), mostly farmers by profession, argued in their meeting on November 28 that delayed announcement of wheat support price would badly affect the production in the coming season and, as a corollary, the government would have to import the commodity to make up the shortfall.

The wheat subsidy, they insist, must be fixed two months before the cultivation of the crop begins.

The decision-making powers in respect of agriculture, one may note, have shifted to the provinces after the devolution of the federal ministry of food and agriculture following passage of the 18th Amendment. While most of the functions of the devolved ministry of agriculture have been transferred to the provinces, some of its functions have been distributed among four federal ministries.

The task of policy-making has also gone to the provinces but the latter have not been provided the needed funds to efficiently carry out this task. As stated by Sikander Bosan, the federal minister of the NFS&R, the development budget of the ministry of agriculture, which was Rs25 billion at the time of devolution, has shrunk to Rs0.75 billion.

Senior officials of the ministry of NFS&R informed the committee that despite several efforts by them to have coordination with the provinces, the latter have shown no interest in revising the wheat support price.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a leading politician-cum-agriculturist and a member of the committee, is of the view that under the changed circumstances the meeting of this committee on the question of wheat support price was of little relevance if the representatives of the provinces were not there. The cultivation of wheat, he said, has already started but the new prices have not been announced. This could badly discourage the farmers.

The question arises: should there be a raise in wheat support prices every year? There are heated arguments in support of ‘yes’ and ‘no’. The last increase in the support price from Rs1050 to Rs1200 per 40 kgs was announced in November last year on the recommendation of the ministry of NFS&R.

However, the wheat production for the 2012-13 fiscal fell short of the target, one reason being delayed announcement of the wheat support price.

The country produced a total of 24.2 million tonnes of wheat which was 2.3 million less than the target of 25.5 million tonnes for the year. The shortfall occurred mainly due to Punjab’s failure to meet its target.

The Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) which met last month for the first time after the passage of 18th Amendment chose to maintain status quo in two important areas: fixing the wheat production target (25 million tonnes) and the wheat support price (Rs1200 per 40 kgs).

How far this decision is appropriate and meets the needs of the current circumstances will be determined by the developments in the days to come.

The FCA avoided increase in support prices for it could unleash a chain of price hikes in related products and inputs, ultimately making poor man’s bread beyond his reach.

It is to ward off such an eventuality that the Supreme Court last week ordered the federal and provincial governments to take immediate measures to ensure availability of wheat flour and other foodstuff to the citizens at affordable prices.

The court was informed that wheat flour which was available at Rs13 per kg last year was now being sold at Rs42. To discourage the hoarding and artificial price hike, the government has also allowed the private sector to import wheat and about 146,000 metric tonnes of grains have been imported so far, according to an official of Agriculture Policy Institute.

On the other hand, the demand for an increase in the wheat support price is on high pitch in the farmers’ community. Farmers Associates Pakistan (FAP), which represents Punjab’s rich farmers, wants re-fixation of the wheat support price around Rs1,400 per 40 kilograms for 2013-14 season.

A similar rise in the price has been voiced by Kisan Board Pakistan (KBP) and Sindh Chamber of Agriculture. If this is not possible, then the inputs’ prices should be controlled, they say. Pakistan needs to produce 26 million tonnes wheat per annum to remain self-sufficient. Out of this, 23 million tonnes is required to meet domestic needs, 1.5 million tonnes for use as seeds, and 1.5 million tonnes become waste by the time it reaches markets and flour mills.

The case of small farmers deserves close attention of the authorities concerned. According to a recent study conducted by a foreign bank, farming profession is no more a profitable pursuit for small farmers because they always remain under stress of the constantly soaring prices of farm inputs which usually wipe out the benefit of the intermittent increase in wheat support price. In addition, they have to struggle to meet the ever-rising cost of the essential items of domestic use. This has weakened their ability to invest in agriculture inputs.

Small farmers, having land of less than 12 acres, constitute the majority of cultivators. There are 6.62 million farms. Of these 85.69 per cent are cultivated by small farmers.

In Punjab 85.39 per cent of the total farms are in the category of small farms.

Small farmers are naturally worst hit whenever there are natural calamities such as floods, heavy rains, storms, pest attacks and, unlike rich farmers, they rarely get relief assistance and compensation they deserve.

In case of farm inputs, their consumption of urea fertiliser, being unaffordable, has been reduced and DAP application, in certain cases, completely eliminated. This has resulted in a decline in yields of these farms from 40 maunds per acre to below 28 maunds per acre.