THE farming community must have taken a sigh of relief over the decision of the Federal Cabinet to write a letter to the provinces to enhance their wheat procurement targets and set a good price for the commodity to facilitate farmers and ensure the availability of the staple food in the market. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, who briefed journalists about proceedings and decisions of the cabinet, quoted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as directing the Ministry of National Food Security and Research to work out an effective strategy in coordination with provincial governments for achieving the wheat procurement target.
This is a somewhat belated but crucial move on the part of the cabinet as it comes in the wake of reports about a bumper wheat crop and crash of its prices because of low procurement targets by the Government. Officially, the Punjab Government has approved a wheat procurement price of Rs. 3900 per forty kilograms and that the Sindh Government at Rs. 4000 but reports from across the country suggest that the farmers are forced to buy the commodity at as low a price as Rs. 3200 per 40 kg due to lack of purchasing intervention by the provincial governments. It was in this backdrop that farmers’ associations have announced a protest demonstration in front of the Punjab Assembly against what they called inaction by the provincial government. There is no doubt that the wheat support price in Pakistan was attractive for farmers and that is why we are expecting a bumper crop this season. However, failure of the Government to ensure that the farmers should get the minimum support price speaks volumes about the ineffectiveness of the wheat price mechanism. It is a strange phenomenon that the growers are not getting the government-fixed prices but people get flour at much higher rates due to manipulative tactics of the private sector. An effective government intervention is, therefore, an immediate necessity to prevent exploitation of farmers by the procurement mafia. There have been reports about damage to the wheat crop due to untimely rains in April and farmers must be shielded against further loss of their hard work.
