When words hardly match deeds
Wednesday, 26 December 2007
Shamsul Huq Zahid
All attention is now focussed on this year's Boro rice season. Much would depend on the Boro output as far as the country's short-term food security is concerned.
The damage caused to Aman rice crop by two consecutive floods and the November 15 cyclone coupled with soaring prices of food grains in the international market has made the farmers and the government to bank more on Boro that is considered a 'sure' crop grown during dry season.
The food and agriculture advisers, soon after the cyclone that devastated the coastal districts, had outlined plans to reap a bumper Boro harvest this year.
But their words hardly match official actions.
The resilience of the Bangladeshi farmers in the face of natural calamities is well known. But there is a limit to everything. Battered by floods and cyclones, the farmers, most of whom are poor, do deserve government support to recoup losses, at least, partially, through higher Boro rice harvest.
The high-yielding variety (HYV) that occupies most part of Boro rice acreage across the country needs fertilisers in higher quantities and extensive mechanical irrigation.
There were a lot of hullabaloos over fertiliser availability during the just-concluded Aman rice season. The agencies concerned are expected to ensure adequate supply of the same during the ongoing Boro season.
But what is happening with the government's planned distribution of diesel among the farmers during the Boro season at subsidised price has once against proved the fact that an inept bureaucracy is enough to destroy a well-intended move, no matter who is at the helm of the statecraft.
According to a report published in this daily Tuesday, the government is still mulling over a perfect strategy for distribution of subsidy at the growers' level for purchasing diesel. Under the strategy, the Department Of Agriculture Extension will soon start a countrywide survey to know the number of irrigation pumps and the total area under 'Boro' rice crop. A list of farmers will also be prepared in all agricultural blocks across the country.
The arduous task may take three months or even more. After getting all the data, the ministry of agriculture would seek fund, which could be around Tk 7.5 billion, from the ministry of finance. The latter might seek a few clarifications before releasing the fund. It is most likely that completion of the survey, data processing and fund release would go well beyond the Boro season.
There is no denying that the government needs to have necessary information before distribution of fund on account of fuel subsidy at the growers' level to stop misuse or misappropriation of the same. Still, one cannot be certain about proper use of subsidy money even after having the lists of potential beneficiaries.
But many would like ask the government one very valid question: Why now?
The issue of fuel subsidy was decided several months back. Had the survey been initiated in time, the government would have been ready by now to disburse subsidy fund.
The fuel subsidy, it seems, is aimed at providing financial relief to millions of farmers who have to suffer much either due to vagaries of nature or manmade scarcity of agricultural inputs such as fertilisers, seeds and diesel.
The bureaucracy that is big and powerful but infamous for being inept and slow in actions has never been sympathetic to the cause of the country's peasantry. The possible delay in the availability of fuel subsidy at the growers' level that might take a heavy toll on this year's Boro rice output is a testimony to that fact.
Food security is now a major concern for the government. Any setback in Boro rice output is bound to put the government in serious difficulty. So, the development over the issue of providing fuel subsidy to the farmers does deserve appropriate attention from the top policy makers. The authorities concerned must also devise ways and means to ensure disbursement of the same in time.
The fuel subsidy issue is also very much linked to that of upward adjustment of fuel oil prices in the domestic market. The International Monetary Fund has been putting pressure on the government to bring domestic fuel prices in line with input costs and introduce automatic pricing formula. But the government could successfully delay a decision in this regard citing the soaring prices of essential commodities in the domestic market and the possible adverse impact of fuel price hike on agricultural production.
All attention is now focussed on this year's Boro rice season. Much would depend on the Boro output as far as the country's short-term food security is concerned.
The damage caused to Aman rice crop by two consecutive floods and the November 15 cyclone coupled with soaring prices of food grains in the international market has made the farmers and the government to bank more on Boro that is considered a 'sure' crop grown during dry season.
The food and agriculture advisers, soon after the cyclone that devastated the coastal districts, had outlined plans to reap a bumper Boro harvest this year.
But their words hardly match official actions.
The resilience of the Bangladeshi farmers in the face of natural calamities is well known. But there is a limit to everything. Battered by floods and cyclones, the farmers, most of whom are poor, do deserve government support to recoup losses, at least, partially, through higher Boro rice harvest.
The high-yielding variety (HYV) that occupies most part of Boro rice acreage across the country needs fertilisers in higher quantities and extensive mechanical irrigation.
There were a lot of hullabaloos over fertiliser availability during the just-concluded Aman rice season. The agencies concerned are expected to ensure adequate supply of the same during the ongoing Boro season.
But what is happening with the government's planned distribution of diesel among the farmers during the Boro season at subsidised price has once against proved the fact that an inept bureaucracy is enough to destroy a well-intended move, no matter who is at the helm of the statecraft.
According to a report published in this daily Tuesday, the government is still mulling over a perfect strategy for distribution of subsidy at the growers' level for purchasing diesel. Under the strategy, the Department Of Agriculture Extension will soon start a countrywide survey to know the number of irrigation pumps and the total area under 'Boro' rice crop. A list of farmers will also be prepared in all agricultural blocks across the country.
The arduous task may take three months or even more. After getting all the data, the ministry of agriculture would seek fund, which could be around Tk 7.5 billion, from the ministry of finance. The latter might seek a few clarifications before releasing the fund. It is most likely that completion of the survey, data processing and fund release would go well beyond the Boro season.
There is no denying that the government needs to have necessary information before distribution of fund on account of fuel subsidy at the growers' level to stop misuse or misappropriation of the same. Still, one cannot be certain about proper use of subsidy money even after having the lists of potential beneficiaries.
But many would like ask the government one very valid question: Why now?
The issue of fuel subsidy was decided several months back. Had the survey been initiated in time, the government would have been ready by now to disburse subsidy fund.
The fuel subsidy, it seems, is aimed at providing financial relief to millions of farmers who have to suffer much either due to vagaries of nature or manmade scarcity of agricultural inputs such as fertilisers, seeds and diesel.
The bureaucracy that is big and powerful but infamous for being inept and slow in actions has never been sympathetic to the cause of the country's peasantry. The possible delay in the availability of fuel subsidy at the growers' level that might take a heavy toll on this year's Boro rice output is a testimony to that fact.
Food security is now a major concern for the government. Any setback in Boro rice output is bound to put the government in serious difficulty. So, the development over the issue of providing fuel subsidy to the farmers does deserve appropriate attention from the top policy makers. The authorities concerned must also devise ways and means to ensure disbursement of the same in time.
The fuel subsidy issue is also very much linked to that of upward adjustment of fuel oil prices in the domestic market. The International Monetary Fund has been putting pressure on the government to bring domestic fuel prices in line with input costs and introduce automatic pricing formula. But the government could successfully delay a decision in this regard citing the soaring prices of essential commodities in the domestic market and the possible adverse impact of fuel price hike on agricultural production.