Click to play videoBhatinda (Punjab): It's a discordant note coming from the wheat fields in Punjab for there has been a bumper crop because of unseasonal rains. Nonetheless, the Government still fears a shortfall in its procurement by as much as 2.5 million tonnes.
And the supply side constraints are being felt not just in wheat alone.
To tackle the shortfall and the rising prices, the Government has stepped in to procure all the crop and private players have been stopped from entering the mandis (vegetable markets).
India's Green Revolution man, Dr M S Swaminathan of the National Commission, on Farmers is surprised at this decision though.
"The Government cannot think short term and go on procuring wheat and other essentials," says he.
However, even as the Government's buffer stocks add up, nothing has really changed for the farmer. They say that the Government buys wheat from them for Rs 650 and sells it at more than double the rate of nearly Rs 1,300.
Farmers are not only unhappy with the market sale price of wheat. For those with a small landholding, approaching private players for a marginally greater price is also not beneficial.
The Government's decision to ban private players into the mandis to control the spiraling prices is at best being seen as a knee-jerk reaction. Inflation has had its political cost and the Government of the aam aadmi (common man) is taking no chances.
Estimated procurement | Target |
Rice: 90 million tonnes | 92 million tonnes |
Wheat: 14.5 million tonnes | 15.1 million tonnes |
Oilseeds: 23.6 million tonnes | 28 million tonnes |
This means that:
- Rice production is estimated to be down by 2.8 million tonnes
- Production of pulses is estimated to be short by .5 million tonnes
- Production of oilseeds is expected to decline by nearly 5 million tonnes
(With inputs from Chintan Devpuri in Bhatinda)
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