Passco wants official paddy price ensured

Monday, December 01, 2008

By Jawwad Rizvi

LAHORE: The Pakistan Agriculture Storages and Services Corporation (PASSCO) has requested the provincial governments to help it ensure minimum procurement price fixed by the federal government for paddy crop.The PASSCO asked the provincial governments to implement the minimum procurement price of different paddy varieties set by the federal government through district administration, police, revenue, food and agriculture departments. The corporation has made this request after a number of rice millers in Sindh and Punjab refused to pay the minimum price announced by the federal government. The rice millers have started cheating paddy growers while paying less to them and deducting some quantity on account of moisture.A large number of complaints have been made to the PASSCO and provincial agriculture departments of Punjab and Sindh. Paddy growers after harvesting their crop are running from pillar to post to get minimum procurement price announced by the federal government. The delay in the sale of paddy crop is also affecting wheat sowing. Traditionally, farmers after getting money from paddy sales cultivate wheat crop out of what they earn. In current situation when the country has received a bumper paddy crop, farmers are hapless to get reward of their efforts from paddy crop. The problems faced by farming community in sales of paddy crop will affect wheat sowing negatively.Meanwhile, the spokesman for PASSCO confirmed that the organisation had requested Punjab and Sindh provincial governments to ensure payment of specified price to growers.He said that on the directives of the federal government, the corporation has made necessary arrangements for the purchase of Paddy Basmati Super at the rate of Rs 1,500 per maund, Paddy Basmati 385/2000 at Rs 1,250 per maund and paddy Irri-6 at Rs 700 per maund.To make the system effective and extend its outreach to the largest possible number of farmers, a collaborative public-private venture framework has been evolved by the PASSCO, with the approval of the federal government. Consequently, arrangements with 193 rice mills have been executed by the PASSCO. He said the procurement of paddy at rice mills, under PASSCO’s aegis, is going on at brick pace.He admitted that the PASSCO had received complaints that some millers were not conforming to their contractual obligations. These millers were straying from their contracts and not paying farmers on time. He said that millers were deducting paddy on account of variation in quality claiming that the moisture level was high.He confirmed that the PASSCO had not given such discretionary powers to millers to decide the quality of paddy. He said that the PASSCO was also creating awareness among paddy growers, urging them not to sell their produce at less then the price fixed by the federal government. The PASSCO had requested growers not to succumb to the negative tactics of millers and ensure that they were not cheated by them through agents or middlemen. The PASSCO had also requested paddy growers to make complaints of non-compliance by rice millers to the PASSCO, Punjab and Sindh governments.