LARKANA: Sindh Cha­mber of Agriculture (SCA), Larkana, president Syed Sirajul Auliya Rashdi regretted on Friday that the government had resolved to import wheat at exorbitant rates, which would reach in the country at Rs1,900 per 40kg, but it was not ready to give the same price to local growers.

Describing the government’s attempt as discrimination and economic murder of poor farmers and tillers, he said agriculture was the backbone of the economy, but the government was not ready to support growers for better yields that was possible only after fixation of proper prices.

During the 2019-20 wheat harvesting season, he said, most of the growers had sold their commodity between Rs1,200 and Rs1,500 per 40kg, which came to between Rs28 and Rs38 per kg, but at the moment, it was being sold between Rs1,800 and Rs2,200 per 40kg in the open market without any benefit to the tillers. Such a price hike had filled the pockets of hoarders, profiteers and mafia, which had not been curbed yet, he added.

He said the international rate of wheat ranged between $220 and $245 per tonne at the moment and after calculating the cost of freight charges, loading/unloading and local transportation, along with subsidies, it would cost the importers between $260 and $270 per tonne, which meant that 40kg imported wheat would cost Rs1,900.

It was ironic that the authorities were ready to give mafia another opportunity to mint money at the cost of poor farmers and the national exchequer, which would increase sufferings of the masses who were already poverty stricken, he stated.

The SCA chief observed that had the government eradicated swarms of locusts and fixed a similar proper price for wheat crop, the current crisis of wheat shortage would not have arisen.

He said that it was all due to the illogical and immature policies of the government which forced the nation to undergo the worst poverty and face hunger.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2020