Challenges to fruition of local rice procurement policy
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: March 01, 2023 -

THE government's policy to procure locally grown rice varieties for distribution to ration card holders would definitely be heartily welcomed by the consumers whereas the farmers are unlikely to have the same sense of enthusiasm in case the rate worked out by the department of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution does not match or is compatible with the market price.

As informed in the assembly on Monday, the government envisions purchase of paddy at the rate of Rs 25 per kg out of which Rs 20.40 will be paid by the CAF & PF ministry.

Leaving aside the official procedures for realisation of the objective, including approval from the ministry concerned, the policy will reap the fruit only if the paddy growers are satisfied that the government-fixed rate is commensurate with their toil in the field from the stage of tilling the land till the final harvest is made, cost incurred in purchasing paddy seeds and in hiring of labourers or machines.

With mechanised farming not yet widespread in the state, the common practice of paddy plantation centres on engaging the local populace on daily wage payment or sharing the workload on rotational basis, consequently entailing minute examination of the expenditures incurred and stocking of paddy for sale when the demand grows and the price rises, usually experienced in the months between the paddy plantation season.

That the policy will be a challenging task for the government could be comprehended from price of the local rice varieties hovering between Rs 35 to Rs 40 in the market.

Thus, the farmers wouldn't be impressed with the policy in case the rate of procurement is less than the market price or the government hikes the minimum support price.

As the latter option would entail additional budgetary allocation, that too out of the state's limited sources of revenue generation, it is but natural that the government's benevolence will be the primary factor for successful implementation of the policy.

Moreover, with majority of the paddy land owners in the state either belonging to the creamy layers of the society or paddy cultivation generally carried out through mutual agreement of sharing the produce between the owners and the local farmers, expecting the owners and those who toil in the field to share the seasonal harvest seem infeasible, at-least at the juncture when production of the local rice varieties is far less than the demand.

Nevertheless, as rice has been the staple food item in the state since time immemorial, the policy has great potential to taste success as there would be no shortage of consumers.

As such, fruition of the policy will rest on the government's ability to galvanise resources so as to live up to the expectation of the food producers or facilitate multiple cropping in a calendar year.

Another factor that could be decisive in materialisation of the goal and help the state wriggle out of the dependency syndrome would be effective enforcement of The Manipur Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetlands Act, 2020 for rice production would automatically decline if the prime agricultural lands continue to shrink.