Got a headache? Cut off the head!
Friday, 10 October 2008
M Ali
Sometimes a correction may result in a further error and it appears the government's stance on urea fertilizer may have gone that way. In its welcome zealousness to ensure subsidized urea for food does not miss its target, the government has come down hard on another vital and viable cash crop-tobacco. The end result is that whereas food grain farmers will get their fertilizer at Tk. 10 per kg, tobacco farmers will have to fork out Tk. 70 per kg, a seven fold multiple. This is policy that is basically wrong and discriminatory.
Tobacco is a controversial industry and steps to curb consumption through a mixture of taxation, public awareness and segregation is more than understandable. But the fact remains that a crop worth Tk. 6.8 billion (680 crore) is pumping money into the rural economy, providing for roughly 200,000 farmer families and some 10 million (1.0 crore) rural labourers who earn over Tk 1.0 billion (100 crore) in wages. One shudders to think of what the repercussions would be if these labourers, for want of gainful employment decide to migrate to the cities.
For the farmers, the crop has provided a significant improvement in their lifestyles, much more than those of other crops. In Rangpur, tobacco has played an important role in off-setting the effects of the Monga and the region is now the lead player in production of export quality tobacco that runs up a bill of roughly US$ 31 million.
According to statistics, tobacco production is on the whole on a downward curve, with output now in the range of 2004. This can be compared to a steady increase in production of food crops overall. So it is obvious that there is no competition between tobacco and food grain. The crop grows in soil that is generally unsuitable for food grain production. Had this not been so, the farmers themselves would have made the switch.
Tobacco is a Robi crop that now grows almost like a relay crop. Another aspect of tobacco is that it does not require stagnant water, unlike paddy. Given the problems with the country's water table, there could be other considerations even if all this land could be devoted to food grain production. The farmers have enough problems of their own without having to face up to the prospect of a seven-hundred percent increase in the cost of an input.
Farmers are farmers and as long as the crop is legal there should not be discrimination. As it is, they have enough problems to overcome and make the least complaints. After all, a headache requires medication, not a severing of the head itself.
Sometimes a correction may result in a further error and it appears the government's stance on urea fertilizer may have gone that way. In its welcome zealousness to ensure subsidized urea for food does not miss its target, the government has come down hard on another vital and viable cash crop-tobacco. The end result is that whereas food grain farmers will get their fertilizer at Tk. 10 per kg, tobacco farmers will have to fork out Tk. 70 per kg, a seven fold multiple. This is policy that is basically wrong and discriminatory.
Tobacco is a controversial industry and steps to curb consumption through a mixture of taxation, public awareness and segregation is more than understandable. But the fact remains that a crop worth Tk. 6.8 billion (680 crore) is pumping money into the rural economy, providing for roughly 200,000 farmer families and some 10 million (1.0 crore) rural labourers who earn over Tk 1.0 billion (100 crore) in wages. One shudders to think of what the repercussions would be if these labourers, for want of gainful employment decide to migrate to the cities.
For the farmers, the crop has provided a significant improvement in their lifestyles, much more than those of other crops. In Rangpur, tobacco has played an important role in off-setting the effects of the Monga and the region is now the lead player in production of export quality tobacco that runs up a bill of roughly US$ 31 million.
According to statistics, tobacco production is on the whole on a downward curve, with output now in the range of 2004. This can be compared to a steady increase in production of food crops overall. So it is obvious that there is no competition between tobacco and food grain. The crop grows in soil that is generally unsuitable for food grain production. Had this not been so, the farmers themselves would have made the switch.
Tobacco is a Robi crop that now grows almost like a relay crop. Another aspect of tobacco is that it does not require stagnant water, unlike paddy. Given the problems with the country's water table, there could be other considerations even if all this land could be devoted to food grain production. The farmers have enough problems of their own without having to face up to the prospect of a seven-hundred percent increase in the cost of an input.
Farmers are farmers and as long as the crop is legal there should not be discrimination. As it is, they have enough problems to overcome and make the least complaints. After all, a headache requires medication, not a severing of the head itself.