ALI Dino Mangrio, a middle-aged farmer from Khipro, looked dejected after having sold his wheat crop produced from his four-acre field for Rs1,800 per 40kg to a trader against the official support price of Rs2,000.

The Sindh government has raised wheat procurement price by 43 per cent from Rs1,400 to Rs2,000 per 40 kg for this season, but Mangrio was not so lucky as to fetch this price.

He sold his grain to a trader instead of the food department, which is yet to begin wheat procurement. He has to share the crop profit on a 50/50 basis — after deducting expenses — with the landowner as per farming practice in Sindh.

With expenses on the crop ranging from ploughing to use of seed, watering, urea and DAP, he was able to get a better crop. “Even after taking care of the crop, I ended up selling it for a lower price,” he regrets. This year again Mangrio and farmers like him will not be getting support the price fixed by government for their produce.

Only a couple of days back, the Sanghar civil administration, on the request of the food department, started checking movement of wheat within the district. Such action was also taken by Matiari’s civil administration, leading to an outcry by growers.

A local chakki owner in Sanghar’s Chotiari market, Ali Keerio, says that he personally has seen wheat-laden trailers leaving Sanghar for some other destinations. “Initially, I bought wheat for Rs2,200 per 40 kg, but later I came to know that market prices ranged between Rs1,750 and Rs1,800,” he adds.

“On the one hand, the food department wants civil administrations to check inter-district movement of wheat and on the other growers want free movement to enable them get a fair price in the market,” concedes an official. “Even if the administration tightens screw on traders, food staff remains hands in glove with them and let wheat pass through district(s)”, he says.

Sindh Food Secretary Haleem Sheikh promises to ensure genuine farmers get the support price and complaints about bardana (gunny bags) are addressed. “Since the support price has been increased everyone wants to sell the grain to us. Our dilemma is the department will lift only a certain quantum of crop,” he says.

Initially, the federal government raised wheat support price from Rs1,400 to Rs1,650 per 40kg, but it had to revise it upward to Rs1,800 as Sindh fixed the procurement price at Rs2,000.

Currently, the wheat market is showing a declining trend price-wise. A local chakki owner in Hyderabad says 100kg bag was sold for Rs4,500 two days back. He believes it will increase gradually. ”Consumers will not benefit in long run,” he quips.

Harvesting of the grain is in full swing in every district of Sindh at least in its lower region like Sanghar or Matiari. Since the food department usually starts wheat procurement from April 1, it always fears that if prompt measures are not taken wheat would be smuggled out to other provinces and thence to Afghanistan.

“We actually can’t lift wheat immediately after its harvesting because of higher moisture content,” adds the food secretary. According to his explanation, the food department procures wheat that is exposed to sunlight after having been matured as it is then considered a crop fit for storage for a couple of years.

Sindh has achieved its wheat production target of 3.8m tonnes, which is 1.3pc higher over 2019-20. The agriculture department hopes to reap four million tonnes due to better health of the grain.

But one should not lose sight of the fact that the province had revised its production target downwards in the last two years 2018-19 and 2019-20 from 4.2m tonnes in 2017-18 to 3.8m tonnes.

The food department is pursuing the federal government to get its cash credit limit (CCL) increased from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) which is to be moved by the federal finance division through the Ministry of National Food Security. According to Mr Sheikh, Sindh government’s CCL currently stands at Rs130bn.

“Currently, the Sindh government has a liability of Rs82bn and with another Rs70bn for procuring 1.4m tonnes of wheat at a support price of Rs2,000 per 40kg, the CCL will rise to Rs152bn. Therefore its limit is to be raised by Rs22bn,” the food secretary says. His understanding is that the finance division would increase it in one go after receiving a request from Punjab.

Even if wheat procurement is started from April 1, the food department is not expected to deal with wheat procurement efficiently and expeditiously. It would procure only 35pc of the total estimated four million tonnes of the crop this year. The rest is to be handled by market players.

Procurement operation is marred by malpractices and targeted support price hardly reaches small- and medium-sized growers. It is in spite of the fact that grievance redressal committees (GRCs) are formed but complaints pertaining to discrimination in distribution of gunny bags always abound.

The food department has floated tenders for gunny bags at a cost of Rs1.5bn, which is a provincial allocation for the department. Gunny bags supply, confirms Mr Sheikh, will start soon.

Hardly 0.7m to 0.750m tonnes of wheat is stored in official godowns. The rest of the quantity (out of 1.4m tonnes) is kept on private premises of flour mills or under open skies leading to contamination and diseases. The food department has not yet increased its storage capacity.

Sindh Abadgar Board vice president Mehmood Nawaz Shah finds the food department’s notification to check wheat movement flawed. “The government lifts only some quantum of the total grain. Farmers stock it too. So, who is going to determine whether it is hoarded wheat or otherwise? After all grain is to be kept somewhere,” he asks.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2021