Short-term gifts

The prime minister’s Kissan Package seems to be a government gimmick hastily stitched to get political mileage by portraying the PML-N as a pro-farmer political party. The package has failed to address the root causes for sluggish growth in the agriculture sector, the most important sector in Pakistan.
Poverty is palpable in the rural areas. The farming community, in particular, has been suffering a steady decline in income levels. The government cannot absolve itself of any blame in this matter because it still controls capital resources which impact agriculture, including the pricing of inputs such as fertilisers, irrigation, support prices, the national food security plan, research and the land use policy. Its concern falls short of farmers’ expectations who are suffering from the falling commodity prices and the rising prices of all agricultural inputs.
The government, especially in Punjab, has created a publicity bonanza out of the flawed agriculture package. Ironically, the prime minister has rightly declared agriculture to be the backbone of the national economy. He elaborated by stating that if the local farmer manages to prosper, so too will the country.
Out of the 14 relief measures in the Kissan Package, nine have been announced by the finance minister in his annual budget speech of 2015-16. These included Rs5000 per acre for rice growers, tax holidays for the agricultural delivery chain, relief to the rice mills, exemption from withholding tax, import and local supplies of agricultural machinery and equipment, and interest-free loans of up to Rs1 million for setting up new solar tube wells.
A local patwari is central to this programme as he will be the person who will decide who the cheques are delivered to. He is the pivot in deciding the eligibility criteria, emphasising whether the applicant owns less than 12.5 acres, is a taxpayer, and is not the co-shared grower with an absentee landlord who pays income tax. All these certificates can be secured against gratification.
An overwhelming majority of the farming community owns only 2.5 acres of land and need more facilities than such trivial cash allowances. Their basic requirement is to get access to sources that can ensure sustainable agriculture in the country. Can it happen with the help of dole-outs? As we look at the dismal growth of agriculture in the past few years (2.9 percent in 2014 and 2.1 percent in 2013), there is no cause for satisfaction. Cash is no doubt welcome among the poor farmers, but it will do little to help them in the long run.
Pakistan is likely to remain an agricultural country in the near future. This sector will continue to be a major supplier of employment, a locomotive for surge in industry and its growth will be the real game-changer in the demographic shift from rural to urban centres. The government must prioritise this problem rather than ignore it.
According to a study by the World Bank titled ‘Shock waves managing the impacts of climate change on poverty’, Pakistan is among those countries in which the effect of climate change will reduce the income of the farmers. The report highlights the impact of rising temperatures and consequent changes in crop seasons and natural disasters. Already, according to the finance ministry, Pakistan has lost $14.6 billion due to floods and earthquakes. The devastation caused by these floods has not been temporary. Farmers have witnessed the destruction of crops, livestock, seed stocks and erosion of fertile land.
The government is hardly concerned over the negative impact of climate change on our local farms. Farmers have taken the matter to the Lahore High Court asking the government to implement the policies it had laid out in 2012, including practical steps needed to adapt to the effects of climate change and to limit the country’s own emissions that contribute to various problems, including water shortages. In 1950, water availability stood at 5300 cubic metres per person, but by 2011 that figure had dropped to under 1000 cubic meter. This is a serious issue as 96 percent of the available water is used for agriculture.
The government seems to be focused on how it can use farmers to enhance its own political gains. It is not looking into the circumstances leading to the scaling down of the cotton production target from 15.49 million bales to 11.4 million bales for the current season. The government must realise that farmers could not use pesticides and fertilisers because of the lack of sufficient funds and rising prices for farmers.
The government’s indifference has also impacted the sugarcane crop in both Sindh and Punjab. The tragedy is that neither the growers nor the sugar-mill owners are happy with the government policy. If the climate changes have already affected the timeline of sowing and harvesting sugarcane, appropriate amendments must be introduced in the rules/laws governing the start of the sugarcane crushing season. Since the crushing season has not commenced yet, the government should come up with a policy on the sowing of new crops to be vacated by the late harvesting of sugarcane. There is no policy or guideline at the moment. There are only empty words of sympathy and support.
The ongoing malaise must come to an end sooner rather than later. According to the chairman of the Hisaar Foundation, 66 percent of the population depends on agriculture. More than 30 percent of the country’s population lives below the poverty line and 58 percent are now food-insecure. Agriculture is the only locomotive for growth in our economy. How can it possibly grow if the water storage capacity of the country is only thirty days?
We need comprehensive measures to expand agriculture vertically rather than horizontally. In Punjab, the government must activate extensions and research to introduce disease-free varieties at affordable prices. Half-hearted measures will not do much for small farmers who are crushed under the weight of expensive agricultural inputs, exploitive market prices, and heavy losses in post-harvesting stages due to a lack of inexpensive storage facilities. They need help to build their lives by stabilising their means of income.
A meagre one-time cash gift is not the solution. The government must break out of its delusion that a half-baked policy can deliver concrete results.
The writer is a former ambassador and political analyst.
Email: mian.sana@gmail.com