MULTAN, April 16: Wheat harvesting is gaining momentum in the plains of the Punjab amid forecast of a bumper production for the fourth consecutive year, but whether the growers will reap the fruit of a surplus crop is hard to predict.

The government has kicked off wheat harvesting with a fanfare, as Prime Minister Mir Zafrullah Jamali had pushed the campaign from Okara on Wednesday. Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi is scheduled to inaugurate it in Multan from Shujaabad.

The official procurement price is Rs300 per 40kgs, which the government terms support price, after allocating around Rs7,700 millions of wheat subsidies per annum in the federal government budget. The budgetary allocation of wheat subsidy includes the expenses incurred on the gunny bags’ supply and transportation.

Despite being an agricultural country, Pakistan used to import wheat until 1999, as the local production had always remained under 18 million tons against the demand of 20 million tons. The country had to spend foreign exchange to overcome the shortage by importing wheat at $177 to $180 per ton.

At the time of military take-over on Oct 12, the farmers were going through the worst cotton crisis, as phutti (seed cotton) prices had plummeted as low as Rs450 per 40kgs and lint cotton was rolling in the market at Rs1,200 per maund (37.325kgs). This forced the growers to come out on roads to fight for their right.

The ousted (Nawaz Sharif) government had enhanced the wheat support price to Rs260 per 40kgs from Rs240 per 40kgs for the Rabi season in 1999-2000. To calm down the protesting growers, the military government announced Rs300 support price of wheat.

The impetus of price increase worked wonders, as record 8,463,000 hectares of land came under wheat cultivation in the country. Around 6,180,300 hectares were cultivated in the Punjab. The wheat produce was approximately 22 million tons.

Almost same production on the same area was recorded in the subsequent area despite relatively unfavourable weather. The growers produced 21 million tons by extra applications of fertilisers and other inputs, which enhanced their cost of production. However, the year 2000-2001 proved to be a nightmare for the growers, who had to sell their produce at Rs250 per 40kgs (official price was Rs300 per 40kgs) to the private sector in the absence of active official buyers. They reportedly showed indifference on the pretext that they had wheat stocks lying at their godowns.

In 2001-2002, the growers reduced the wheat cultivation area from 8.4 million hectares to 8 million hectares and the overall production came down to 19.5 million tons. In spite of the government’s claims, the growers had to bear the brunt of surplus stocks because they were offered well below Rs280 per 40kgs throughout the season.

The revised wheat production target for the current season is about 20.6 million tons. Experts predict that the production will cross 21 million tons. However, flawed marketing of surplus production often proves a bad omen for the farmers.

When contacted, a broker at the local grain market told this correspondent that wheat from the fresh crop was available in the market at Rs290 per 40kgs. This meant that the growers were so far being offered a price less than Rs 280 per 40kgs, he added.

Although the Punjab government has announced a number of steps to ensure support price for the growers, the latter are not sure of their future.

The growers complain that the food department officials exploit their monopoly over the gunny bags to extort money from them. Insiders say the government is helpless on this front.

The common practice is that the growers, who want to sell their produce to the government, have to deposit a refundable amount of Rs55 per bag with the government treasury. In principle, the growers are to be paid back the deposited amount when they bring their produce in the official gunny bags. However, the ‘corrupt’ food department officials provide gunny bags to the growers, who surrender the payment orders against the bags.

Besides, the officials allegedly put aside five to 10 wheat bags on an arrival of 110 bags of 100kgs each for what they say they have to cover the weight shortage due to the non-wheat contents. The growers have to keep their lips sealed in the face of exploitation.

According to the marketing experts, the price stabilization can only be achieved by exporting the surplus wheat. They add that mishandling of the surplus wheat by the relevant departments have earned the local wheat a bad reputation in the international market. The Pakistani wheat could fetch hardly between $105 and $125 per ton against the price at which the country used to import the commodity.

Insiders say the carriage contractors in the food department are another mafia, which devours most of the wheat subsidy allocations without actually doing any transportation. The buyers are asked to make bank drafts from far-off places so that it can be proved that the wheat is actually transported to that area at the expense of the national exchequer.