ગુજરાતી
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Gujarat farmer loses Rs 5 per kg due to Modi’s sudden ban on wheat exports
(Dilip Patel)
Due to the sudden ban on the export of wheat, the prices of farmers have come down by Rs 5 per kg. This is the third blow to the farmers in 8 years due to Modi’s sudden decision. Exit after demonetisation, lockdown.
On May 13, the commerce ministry had banned the free export of wheat by private traders. Now it can be exported only after getting the approval of the government. There cannot be free trade. This order has put farmers in trouble, and is likely to lead to hoarding and black marketing.
Like the sudden lockdown in Corona and the sudden ban on notes, wheat has also been banned suddenly. Due to which the export of wheat from the ports of Gujarat has come to a standstill. In Gujarat, farmers have suffered losses due to less ripeness of 3 lakh tonnes of wheat, but the price has also been deeply affected.
Two million tonnes of wheat is falling in Kandla, out of which 1.2 million tonnes is falling in 5,000 trucks. If there is even a little rain, wheat worth 800 to 1 thousand crores can be sown in Kandla alone. Farmers are upset due to the sudden decision of the government.
In Gujarat, the price of 20 kg has gone up from 270 to 380. It was 310 to 450 on 12 May 2022. In this way, the farmers are incurring a loss of 40 to 100 rupees 20 kg. The price of 3000 has come down to 2 thousand in many markets.
After 20 years in Gujarat, farmers started getting good prices for wheat. Against this the planting and production was also low. In Gujarat, wheat was sown in 13.66 lakh hectares in 2021, while in winter 2022, 12.54 lakh hectares were sown. Wheat cultivation had declined by 1.12 lakh hectares.
The Agriculture Department estimates that the production in Gujarat will be 40.58 lakh tonnes in 2021-2022. The production per hectare is estimated at 3235 kg.
In 2020-21, 43.79 lakh tonnes of wheat was expected to be produced in 13.66 lakh hectares. The productivity was expected to be 3204.77 kg. But in reality the farmers have got less production.
Gujarat Agriculture Department has estimated that the production will be 3.21 lakh tonnes less than last year. It is said that the production per hectare decreases by 10 kg.
A sudden decision like lockdown, due to which 4,000 trucks laden with wheat are stuck in Gandhidham in Kandla, Gujarat. Huge quantity of wheat is also falling at the port. Wheat consignment is allowed to be exported to Customs where it is registered on or before 13th May 2022.
Is India heading towards wheat shortage? After the order of the government, now wheat can be bought and sold in the country.
So farmers will get lesser price for our produce.
Exporting traders will buy wheat at half the price. We should have thought before the government announced such a decision.”
The government has a U-turn. A month ago on April 4, the central government had announced the export of 10 million tonnes of wheat.
4 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) of wheat was contracted for export for 2022-23 and about 1.1 million tonnes of wheat has been exported. Apart from Egypt, Turkey also allowed the import of Indian wheat.
The Government of India has revised the wheat production estimate from 111 MMT to 105 MMT in 2022-23.
Four states – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Kerala – have decided not to provide free wheat under the central scheme, as ordered.
Government procurement agencies could not procure wheat as it was sold at a price higher than the Minimum Support Price (MSP). This is also believed to be one of the reasons for reducing the price of the ban. One reason for this is that farmers do not get a good price for wheat and inflation does not increase.
Farmers were happy that they were getting better price than the MSP fixed by the government at Rs 2,015 per quintal.
This time the market price was more than the MSP. The apprehensions of traders about the increase in wheat prices in future have not ended. There is a possibility of hoarding. Traders expect wheat prices to remain high.
