Wheat growers in Punjab fear losses

LAHORE: As harvesting of wheat has started in the province, farmers are facing an uphill task of selling their produce in the absence of any proactive role of government procurement agencies amid reports of dwindling grain price in the market.

The fresh crop is being sold at a throwaway price of Rs 1,100 to Rs 1,150 per maund against the support price of Rs 1,300 in Southern Punjab where harvesting has started in several districts, says a grain trader. Today, many farmers of the Rajanpur District have been left with no option but to sell their produce at just Rs 1,100 per maund that would hardly match their cost of production.

The provincial Food Department is reluctant to launch a procurement drive as carryover stock of over two million tonnes of previous crop has become a liability for the government agency. Having limited wheat storage facility and due to cash crunch, the provincial department is in trouble. As per their fresh announcement, they would start procurement from April 25.

The farmers feared that about one fifth of their crop would be sold at a very low price by the month end. The downward trend in the price of wheat has been witnessed due to reports of a bumper harvest this year coupled with absence of government agencies in the wheat buying process.

A leading private buyer of wheat also expressed similar view about the low price of wheat for growers due to lack of any marketing strategy devised by the provincial government. “The provincial and federal governments have failed to come up with some solutions to ‘crisis of plenty’ we have been witnessing for the last several years,” he said, adding that there had been no activity on reducing input cost of farmers and the government also did not strengthen the role of the private sector for buying maximum wheat from growers at a reasonable price.

According to the estimates of the Agriculture Department, the wheat production in the province could exceed 20 million tonnes this year. Although the official estimates are about 19.5 million tonnes, the officials are whispering about much greater produce this year, thanks to fertilizer, favourable weather and sufficient supply of water.

As about a million tonnes of more wheat is about to hit the market this year if compared with the last season, the preparation for procurement by the Food Department has failed to impress growers as they feel betrayed while anticipating the failure of government agencies in meeting the challenge of buying wheat from them.

Ibrahim Mughal, chairman of Agri-Forum, is sure that the wheat price would be crashed during the procurement campaign. The farmers would not be able to sell their produce at relatively reasonable price due to multiple reasons. He said the price trend in the market was an indication that the farmers would face loss in selling wheat. He asked the department concerned to take immediate steps for starting the wheat procurement campaign at the earliest and buying should not be less than four million tonnes.

One the other hand, the Food Department announced its intention of procuring 40 lakh tonnes of wheat from farmers, though there is no detail available about financing of the operation and availability of storage space for grains. As per an official announcement, 376 wheat procurement centers have been set up throughout the province to facilitate farmers.

Wheat will be procured from the farmers at Rs 1,300 per maund while delivery charges will be paid at Rs 9 per maund to the farmers. As per plans, wheat will not be procured from any middleman or dealer.