Slow pace of paddy procurement: BGA jittery over Passco's restrictive mode of intervention

Basmati Growers Association (BGA) has expressed concern over the slow pace of paddy procurement by the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (Passco), and said the slow and restrictive mode of Passco intervention was unable to lift the paddy prices and the whole endeavour of the Federal and provincial governments proving futile.
"The farmers are being quoted basmati paddy prices at Rs 800 to 850 per maund in comparison to the Rs 1,250 announced by the government," said BGA President Chaudhry Hamid Malhi while talking to Business Recorder here Wednesday. The Passco had contracted 32 centres, but only around 500 tons of paddy had been procured so far, he claimed, and said it was not even one percent of the target of one million tons assigned by the government.
He said the paddy harvesting was almost over and the remaining part would conclude in next 10 days. If the Passco wanted to reap the benefit, then it should speed up the procurement process, he added. Malhi said that the corporation should have at least three to four procurement centres in every rice-producing district.
He said that restriction of 12.5 acres, imposed by the provincial government, and 16-20 percent moisture limit, imposed by the Federal government in addition to half payment in January, were the major hurdles in implementation of the political government's initiative to assist the farmers in getting a better price for their hard earned produce.
Malhi said half payments to paddy growers at the time of acceptance their crop for procurement would discourage the farmers. He suggested that this schedule be implemented where more than 1,000 maunds of paddy were supplied to the Corporation by one farmer.
The BGA President claimed that due to slow pace of procurement, the farmers were getting annoyed and frustrated and they were selling their produce in the open market at throwaway prices. He was of the view that if the farmers would not get good price of their rice produce, then they would not be able to use good inputs for the coming wheat crop, which might have a negative impact. He said the benefit of slow pace of procurement by the Corporation would benefit some body else instead of the growers.