November 10: There is legal provision for the government to fix the minimum support price of paddy before plantation. However, the government has been fixing such price only after the farmers sell their produce.

The farmers have been bearing financial loss due to the delay on part of the government in implementing the minimum support price.

Farmers who are financially weak often sell their paddy soon after harvesting because they need money to purchase seeds and fertilizer for the winter crop.  By the time the government implements the minimum support price, many farmers would already have sold their produce at throw-away prices to middlemen.

As per the decision taken by the Council of Ministers on November 2, the government has fixed the minimum support price of thick-sized paddy at Rs 2,967 per quintal and the minimum support price of medium-sized paddy at Rs 3,128 per quintal.   

The price of thick-sized paddy is Rs 215 more than the price per quintal fixed last year. Likewise, the price of medium-sized paddy is Rs 226 more than last year.

The government has been increasing the support price of paddy every year but the farmers have been at the receiving end due to the delay in announcing the support price. This only helps the businessmen.

Farmers of the terai districts, which produces most of the paddy in Nepal, have already sold off the thick-sized paddy this year. They are in the process of harvesting middle-sized paddy.

Bhuvaneshwar Yadav, a farmer of Siraha, cultivates paddy in eight bighas (1 bigha is equal to 0.61 acre) of land. He planted thick-sized paddy in three bighas of land. He said that he has already sold 15 quintals of rice at Rs 2,200 per quintal because he needs money to purchase fertilizer for the winter crop.

“Now I have some paddy left. We keep small and medium-sized paddy for consumption while sell the thick-sized paddy,” says Yadav, adding, “Had the government fixed the support price of paddy only a month ago, thousands of farmers like him would have benefitted a lot.”

Yadav added that they had to sell the paddy at a loss because they were in urgent need of money.

The farmers of Bardiya also sold paddy at Rs 2,100 per quintal to the businessmen, according to Agni Aryal, coordinator of the Rajapur Paddy Super Zone.

“The farmers are not in a situation to hold off the sale until the government fixes the support price,” Aryal told New Business Age in a telephone conversation.

“The festivals have just ended and the farmers have spent whatever money they had. Now they are tensed to manage money for the winter crop. In such a situation, they are compelled to sell their produce at scrap value,” he added.

Aryal further says that some farmers urgently need money to pay off the debt taken during the festivals.

Prakash Kumar Sanjel, spokesperson of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, says that there was a delay in fixing the minimum support price because the ministry had to take permission from the finance ministry.

“We also had to take permission from the Election Commission this time because of the Election Code of Conduct,” said Sanjel.

The government has made arrangements to purchase the paddy produced by farmers through the Food Management and Trading Company Limited. The ministry informed that arrangements have been made to purchase 300,000 tons of paddy through agriculture cooperatives for which the government has allocated a budget of Rs 330 million. Last year, the government purchased 900,000 tons of paddy under this programme.