LARKANA: Amidst a bumper wheat crop being harvested in Sindh, small growers have been complaining of hardship they are facing in getting bardana (gunny bags) to bring their produce to market.

While disputing their contention, the district food office said here on Thursday that it was providing gunny bags to growers according to the land they owned and the belt they brought under wheat cultivation.

Former vice president of the Sindh Hari Abadgar Board Gada Hussain Mahisar said not only small growers but tillers also were sandwiched between big traders and food department.

Small khatedars (landowners) are compelled to sell the commodity at Rs1,250 per 40 kilogram in open market, where the buyer (trader) would deduct one kilogram on every 40kg, while bardana is not easily available to them, according to him.

“Big landlords and influential figures have easy access to bardana while small growers had bleak approach to it,” he said.

Reports from Qambar-Shahdadkot district suggested that wheat was being procured at the rate of Rs1,350 per 40 kilogram in open market with one kilogram cut.

Asad Tunio, general secretary of the Sindh Balochistan Rice Millers and Traders Association (SBRMTA) and a member of the Larkana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) executive committee, said traders were reaping maximum benefit as they under the obtaining conditions were purchasing wheat at Rs1,250-1,350 per 40 kilogram. The trend is yet to pick up as competitors [government and private purchasers] were present in the market and there was likelihood of a gradual jump in the rate, he said.

Mr Tunio said somehow the procurement rate offered by food department and traders was matching in Qambar town as of Thursday, i.e. Rs1,400 per 40 kilogram.

“The food department slashes one kilogram on every 100kg sack from tillers while in open market but the cut is 2.5 kilogram on every 100kg bag. Therefore, trading in open market has attracted growers and small khatedars in private market,” he said.

He slammed what he called “unjustified” distribution of gunny bags by the food department. Small growers could hardly get 100 to 200 gunny bags from the department but in contrast to it, big landlords and influential figures were getting bulk quantity even up to 20,000 or 30,000 gunny bags, he noted.

“The procurement target in Qambar is 500,000 maunds while the production is around two million maunds. Thus, definitely small growers will suffer. Also the element of fear on late payment or blockage of amount with food department is compelling growers to sell it in open market at lower rates. This is again a big loss to small growers,” he said.

Reports collected from the Larkana grain market say the procurement rate fluctuates between Rs1,300 and Rs1,350 per 40 kilogram with one kilogram deduction while the rate in Qambar is Rs1,400 per 40 kilogram in open market and the same is offered by food department.

Altaf Metlo, doing business on a small scale, pointed out that the wheat grain damaged due to rain was currently arriving in the market.

Siraj-ul-Oliya, president of the Larkana district of the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture said that wheat was cultivated on 200,000 acres in this district alone. “Even after the rains, hailstorms and locust swarms attacks, we have a bumper crop now. Growers are forced to sell their crop in open market at the rate of Rs1,250 per 40 kilogram, as they are in haste to clear their bank and private loans they had acquired through their landlords. This is quite damaging for them.” he said.

He said late opening of government’s procurement centers in the district would inflict financial losses on the growers. He said food department had the target of purchasing 600,000 bags at 21 procurement centres but unfortunately the food department was providing an inadequate number of gunny bags to growers. He said the element of ‘favouritism’ deprived small growers of gunny bags according to their requirement. He thought under the obtaining conditions the middle men was reaping benefit while a majority of small growers was suffering.

When contacted for his comment, the Larkana district food controller, Aftab Unnar, plainly brushed aside the claims of growers’ leaders and organisations, saying the the department was providing gunny bags to the growers according to their need. “We are issuing 200 to 1,000 gunny bags and not more than this to each grower. Naturally, the landlord who cultivates vast land would get more while small khatedar or grower would get fewer,” he argued.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2020