Pakistan: Wheat support price raise

THE FRONTIER POST

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on November 22 rightly increased the support price of wheat by Rs 150 per 40 kilogramme allowing the farming community to sell their commodity at Rs1200 instead of the existing price of Rs1050. Some may think the raise has been given to woo farmers in the lead-up to the coming parliamentary election but the fact is that such hikes are a routine matter to make agriculture an attractive and profitable activity as the farming community has been lamenting over the escalating costs of various inputs and every year this cost is going higher and higher. What actually made the ECC to take the decision was to formalise a barter trade deal with Iran for which the committee session was held earlier than the schedule. This meeting was scheduled for November 26 but the government rescheduled it for November 22 seizing the opportunity of the presence of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Islamabad to participate in the D-8 summit conference. Tehran had earlier showed reservation over buying Pakistani wheat at $300 per ton but later changed its mind when international prices started going beyond $350 per ton. Pakistani wheat is cheaper than the international price because of low transportation charges. Thus, when the Iranian president arrived here for D-8 moot, he informed Pakistani authorities that his country would push the barter trade deal with Islamabad. Iran will purchase one million tons of wheat and 500,000 tons of rice. In return, it will sell oil, raw iron ore and fertilizers to Pakistan. What is, however, is matter of concern is that the cost of agricultural produce has gone higher but the per acre yield is on the decline. Its consumption of fertilizer per hectare is approximately 133 kg whereas the yield is substantially low. Agriculture is the mainstay of Pakistan's economy, contributing 24 per cent of the GDP, employs 48 per cent of the country's labour force and contributes about 60 per cent to export earnings. That is why the farming community thinks it is no longer a sustainable productivity which depends on a whole-system approach with an overall objective of preserving the health of the land and people. This activity warrants a long term solutions instead of short term treatment. A host of problems are contributing to lower than potential productivity and soil degradation, depletion of water resources, mismanagement of irrigation systems, age-old and poor farming practices, and, above all, unjust distribution of land holdings, are some them. And shortage of energy makes the issue further complex. The use of farm inputs, particularly of fertilizers, is inadequate and inefficient and land energy use is low. Besides, the availability of quality seed is limited. Agricultural research is lagging behind new challenges. Agricultural extension services are not tuned to modern technology. Likewise, the flow of information from research to farmers is inadequate and coordination between policy, research and extension is not keeping pace with the world. The government extends more thanRs50 billion every year in agricultural loans to farmers but this amount seems on the lower side of the requirement and that, too, is not reaching small farmers. In nutshell, the governments at the center and in provinces do not seem to be giving importance to agriculture which it should have given as the national lifeline activity. These governments should have set up united networks on agricultural extension and the use of fertilizers with experts' cooperation; a programme to give on-the-soil training of the use of fertilizers should have been initiated; agro-ecological zones should have been established for a long term plan on testing soils in different regions for nutrient supplying capacity with a focus on various crops; and examine the environmental impacts of fertilizers, especially that of fertilizers on soil fertility and agricultural product quality. However, what surprises is how and why agriculture has lagged behind in the overall national activity when landlords have been holding political sway over all governments in the past and also at present. What, however, stand is being ignored in the whole milieu is the tiller of the land who still hardly keeps body and soul together. How can farming be profitable when the peasantry is deprived of its genuine rights? Will mere raising the support price of one commodity make any difference in the overall scenario?