Wheat growers in Sindh province are facing immense hardships due to non-availability of gunny bags. Whatever stock of wheat bags is available, it is either distributed to influential landowners or supplied after charging extra money illegally.
When there is restriction on inter-district and inter-provincial movement of wheat in the province, non-availability of gunny bags leaves the hapless farmers with no choice than to dispose of the wheat on a much lower price than he could’ve otherwise obtained. The wholesale purchasers are waiting in the wings for such an opportunity to arise.
They know that farmers cannot wait indefinitely, primarily because of climatic uncertainties which are compounded by lack of storage facilities. Moreover, they need money for running their day-to-day affairs, pay the debts and also to prepare for second sowing.
Agriculture is now cost-intensive due to overhead expenses of sowing, fertiliser, thrashers, government tax, etc. When all these expenditures are calculated, there is hardly any room for the farmers to make a living. This is causing great frustration among the agrarian society.
If small farmers do not get due attention from the government and public representatives, they may lose interest in farming and look into other alternatives (like seeking employment in other sectors and/or migrating to cities).
It is requested that the Sindh government should consider immediately lifting the ban on wheat movement to enable the farmers to sell their wheat product on a better price. The government should also ensure easy procurement of gunny bags in a transparent manner so that the growers are not exploited by opportunists.
SIKANDAR ALI SHAH
Kandiaro
