Exploitation of farmers

The fight of farmers is complicated, multifaceted, but extremely important. They fight to secure food and future of humanity. They should be treated as hero, especially in a country where 58.8pc population is food insecure.

But, Pakistan is not recognising this, rather moving in other direction. The insensitive behaviour of the state has broken the back of farming community. They have been left with no choice but to protest.

On the contrary, farmers in developed world are considered backbone of their country and guarantee of food security. They are treated well by the states and get subsidies. A study was published recently on the state of subsidies provided to farmers in 12 countries. It revealed these countries give $700 billion to farmers on annual basis. A healthy amount is being provided as direct transfer to farmers. In addition, these countries are investing heavily on research, development and agriculture-related infrastructure.

The breakdown of data showed China provided $185 billion, EU $101.3 billion, US $48.9 billion, Japan $37.6 billion, Indonesia $29.4 billion and South Korea $20.9 billion as subsidy to farming community. They deem it necessary to secure food, create jobs and eliminate poverty.

Besides, farming community is organised in these countries and they do not allow leadership to work against their interests. Keeping in mind these facts, let’s analyse state of farming community of Pakistan. First of all, Pakistan provides meagre subsidies to farmers and agriculture sector. Second, Pakistan has adopted blanket subsidy policy without distinction of big or small farmers. It’s a wrong policy choice as it leads to exploitation of subsidies by big farmers.

Small farmers are used as dummy to allocate subsidies. There is need to revise this policy and come up with a new one with a focus on small and resource poor farmers.

Third, agriculture-related infrastructure is extremely poor. Supply chain management presents a pathetic picture. Roads are in bad shape. Agriculture commodities like fresh vegetables and fruits are being transported by ordinary loaders which impact the quality of commodities. There are very few cold storages which cannot cater the needs of farmers. Lack of refrigerated transportation further complicates the situation.

Fourth, agriculture market structure is anti-farmer. They have to buy expensive inputs like fertilizer, seed and pesticides. Quality of inputs is another issue which is impacting productivity and production. It is a well-established fact productivity of agriculture sector in Pakistan is very low as compared to global standards.

On the other hand, government fixes prices of agriculture commodities without giving due importance to input cost and expenses of farmers. It also does not consider labour cost of farmers and their families. Fifth, announcing Kissan packages is a favourite tool of rulers to befool farming community.

Owning to these factors, farmers cannot get right price for their yield and are compelled to sell their products at lower prices. Now, climate change is posing serious threat to agriculture in Pakistan. A study pointed out productivity of wheat in Pakistan will decrease by 8-10 percent till 2040 due to climate change. Another study said worst impacts of climate change would be on wheat and rice (especially basmati rice) in coming years. It has been predicted there would be a decrease of 6pc in wheat yield and 15-18pc loss in yield of basmati rice in the country except northern areas. Floods and droughts will further complicate the situation as the floods of 2022 have reinforced this argument.

In this context, there is need to invest on farmers and agriculture. For that purpose, the state will have to come up with a comprehensive plan of reforms and implementation mechanisms. First, there is need to focus targeted subsidy policy and getting rid of landlord subsidy policy. State should focus on small and resource poor farmers, especially farmers with farm size less than one acre (1.23 million), 2.5 acres (2.34 million), 5 acres (1.75 million) and 7.5 acres (1.13 million). Government should provide free inputs to farmers who hold land less than 1-2.5 acres and 50pc subsidised inputs to farmers who own land less than 5-7.5 acres.

Second, government should revise the pricing policy. Pricing should be rationalised on the basis of input costs and market rates. Third, Pakistan must invest on market infrastructure and supply chain management of agriculture sector. Fourth, climate smart and compatible agriculture should be promoted to combat the challenges.

In conclusion, Pakistan must realise farmers need assistance. It is required to achieve the poverty elimination objectives and to secure food. A better performing agriculture sector and well-off farmers will provide a strong base for the economic development. We can learn from China how they revolutionised their agriculture sector.