It has happened before, now it has happened again. Media reports that the farmers have again been deprived of fair price for their products. Through the years time did the same trick. The farmers of this land were being deprived of fair price for jute. The middlemen and the traders were charging prices according to their conveniences parting with very little for the growers who were as usual at the receiving end. The farmers were predestined or, in other words, were compelled to sell their products at loss.
After jute, rice was added to the list. Newspapers report that farmers did not get a fair price for boro paddy in this season. The ground reality is that agriculture is no longer an affordable profession. That a farmer is not being able to get a fair price for his products or get back his production cost by selling the product, bears ample testimony of his miseries.
There are, however, multiple reasons behind falling prices of boro. Farmers attribute the same to manipulations by the middlemen and traders. The middlemen and traders blame overproduction of boro, excessive import of cheaper Indian rice and finally delayed procurement by the government.
Farmers are reported to have been selling paddy at a rate that is almost 30.0 per cent lower than the selling price in the open market. As a result, production cost is not even covered. The reason behind selling below the production cost is that the farmers have no choice in determining the selling price. Price of paddy is determined by the middlemen traders and rice mill owners and the farmers have to sell paddy at the price fixed by them.
The middlemen and the traders know very well that the farmers have to accept their price because they need the cash. And they take advantage of their weaknesses. In addition, the rice merchants are importing cheaper quality of Indian rice taking advantage of the duty free facility provided by the government. The volume of rice imported from India increased by 50.0 per cent over that of the last year. The import was worth US$770 million from July to March last year whereas the volume of rice imported during the corresponding period of this year is worth US$1050 millions. The traders are importing more rice since it is cheaper than local rice. Rice being cheaper, the price of paddy has also gone down. A 10.0 per cent customs duty was imposed to keep the rice market steady. It made no impact because in the mean time huge quantities of rice has already been imported.
On the other hand, government's procurement programme is already underway from May 01 and will continue up to August 31. The farmers could not take any advantage out of it since they had to sell off almost 80.0 per cent of their production by the end of March. That means, the farmers sold their product before the government procurement programme had taken off. Middlemen and traders reaped the benefits of the government procurement programme.
They bought crops from the farmers at a cheaper rate and sold the same to the government at a higher price. Had the government started its procurement programme in March instead of May, the farmers would not have been compelled to sell their products at a lower price and would have got a fair deal.
In the absence of any effective interventions by the government, the rights of the farmers will continue to be dashed. Neither the middlemen nor the traders are affected. It is only the growers who are to suffer and languish in course of the scheming of the middlemen and the traders. The government can salvage the farmers from the vicious circle and bring back smile on their faces by devising a well coordinated strategy to safeguard the interest of the growers. Society is better off if the interests of its farmers are protected.
The rights of the growers should be protected as they are being violated over the decades. Human rights organisations should also come forward and uphold the rights of the farmers.
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