Farmers slam 'inadequate' subsidy

The Sindh Abadgar Board, a farmers' lobbying group, has deplored what it argued to be an insufficient amount of subsidy being extended by the provincial government to small farmers in Sindh. A meeting of the board, chaired by Mahmood Nawaz Shah in Hyderabad on Sunday, noted that a paltry sum of Rs1,500 per acre is being offered to the small farmers. "The Hari Card is though a positive move by the government, it does not cover even 20% of the province's small growers," read a statement issued after the meeting. "The government seems to be devoid of the ground realities and it has absolutely forgotten that even before the current back breaking increase in the diesel prices, agriculture was [already] in crisis." The meeting contended that the farmers continued to receive low prices for their crops during the last two years which almost witnessed a drop in production and natural calamities. The farmers complained that instances of steep decline in the crops prices abound with wheat being the largest victim of such a price manipulation. After the 2022 floods, which cut a swathe through Sindh and Balochistan, the rate of wheat crop was fixed by the government at Rs4,000 per 40 kilograms. Two years later by early 2024, a sharp decline reduced the price to Rs2,200 per 40 kg as the government paused the wheat procurement to meet tough conditionalities of the International Monetary Fund. The exercise of buying wheat to stock the government's warehouses resumed this year but the price was fixed at Rs3,500 for the same quantity which was fetching Rs4,000 or higher in 2022-23. The SAB claimed that traders in the open market are paying an even lesser rate of Rs3,200 to the wheat growers for their produce. "The farmers are of the view that this crisis is chiefly of the government's making because it imports agricultural commodities at the time of harvesting and halts exports while allowing the inputs to increase with zero institutional support in production, seed, technology and research and development," the board decried. The SAB argued that a drop in agro investments and mechanization of the section testify their contention about the government's policy flaws. The board maintained that Rs1,500 subsidy per acre and that too for a fraction of the small farmers who are registered with the provincial government will in no way ward off the adverse economic impacts on agriculture and commodity prices entailed by the fuel price hike. The farmers believed that the cost of cultivation is going to rise by Rs12,000 per acre in the wake of the Iran war's implications. According to the SAB, among some 2.6 million farming households in Sindh, more than 90% are small farmers. Whereas, the Benazir Hari Card has been issued to just around 330,000 farmers. The agriculturists called for 'pragmatic measures' which are devotedly aimed at preventing strangulation of the agro economy. Cutting down taxes and levies and stopping stockpiling and manipulation of the input prices can be some of the steps which have become a need of the time. Dr Bashir Nizamani, Syed Nadeem Shah, Imran Bozdar, Taha Memon, Masroor Soomro and other farmers were present in the meeting.