Basmati Growers Association (BGA) has strongly opposed the indicative price of paddy as determined by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Minfa), official sources told Business Recorder on Monday. BGA President Chaudhry Hamid Malhi has written a strongly-worded letter to Minfa Secretary Zia-ur-Rehman, saying that the recommendations of Agriculture Policy Institute (API) and the so-called Agri Task Force had not been taken into consideration and the lot of the farmers, already under pressure, would worsen as a consequence.
He added that there was no check on under-invoicing of rice export and hence the export parity prices did not adequately portray actual prices and were, therefore, of no relevance. "The farmers have conveyed their views time and again but to no avail. Without a clear-cut policy of intervention through the Passco and the inability of Minfa to induct the TCP, the whole calculation is based on a false premise," Malhi added.
The minimum export price (MEP) was abolished on all rice exports from August 2008. India's basmati rice price was above 1,300 dollars, which declined to 1,100 dollars in January 2009 and was further lowered to 800 dollars per ton a week ago. Taking 1,100 dollars as an average bench mark at the rate of Rs 82 per dollar, the export parity comes to Rs 3,600. Taking Basmati paddy to produce 50 percent of export quality rice, the price comes to Rs 1,800, after deducting Rs 300 per 40 kilogram for all processing expenses and profits.
Therefore, the rate of Rs 1,500 for Super Basmati is justified, he said, and added that any reduction in intervention price would not be acceptable to the farmers. "Is this the reward for earning one billion-dollar foreign exchange and also making the country self-sufficient in Basmati rice?" Malhi questioned.
The present recommendations are detrimental to the interests of the rice farmer and will discourage input application leading to low productivity and ultimately lower exports, he concluded. The association, in its letter to the Minfa Secretary, demanded that Passco and the TCP should be involved in procuring rice from the farmers official sources told Business Recorder on Monday.
BGA President Chaudhry Hamid Malhi has written a strongly-worded letter to Minfa Secretary Zia-ur-Rehman, saying that the recommendations of Agriculture Policy Institute (API) and the so-called Agri Task Force had not been taken into consideration and the lot of the farmers, already under pressure, would worsen as a consequence.
He added that there was no check on under-invoicing of rice export and hence the export parity prices did not adequately portray actual prices and were, therefore, of no relevance. "The farmers have conveyed their views time and again but to no avail. Without a clear-cut policy of intervention through the Passco and the inability of Minfa to induct the TCP, the whole calculation is based on a false premise," Malhi added.
The minimum export price (MEP) was abolished on all rice exports from August 2008. India's basmati rice price was above 1,300 dollars, which declined to 1,100 dollars in January 2009 and was further lowered to 800 dollars per ton a week ago. Taking 1,100 dollars as an average bench mark at the rate of Rs 82 per dollar, the export parity comes to Rs 3,600. Taking Basmati paddy to produce 50 percent of export quality rice, the price comes to Rs 1,800, after deducting Rs 300 per 40 kilogram for all processing expenses and profits.
Therefore, the rate of Rs 1,500 for Super Basmati is justified, he said, and added that any reduction in intervention price would not be acceptable to the farmers. "Is this the reward for earning one billion-dollar foreign exchange and also making the country self-sufficient in Basmati rice?" Malhi questioned.
The present recommendations are detrimental to the interests of the rice farmer and will discourage input application leading to low productivity and ultimately lower exports, he concluded. The association, in its letter to the Minfa Secretary, demanded that Passco and the TCP should be involved in procuring rice from the farmers official sources told Business Recorder on Monday.
BGA President Chaudhry Hamid Malhi has written a strongly-worded letter to Minfa Secretary Zia-ur-Rehman, saying that the recommendations of Agriculture Policy Institute (API) and the so-called Agri Task Force had not been taken into consideration and the lot of the farmers, already under pressure, would worsen as a consequence.
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