Making rice import costlier

The government's decision to impose an additional 10 percent duty on the import of rice is timely as farmers are suffering due to low market prices of Boro which constitutes a lion's share of the country's annual rice production.  Considering the 20 percent tariff on rice import already in place, which has resulted in a significant drop in its import by private traders, the move is likely to have a positive effect. 

Farmers are still worried, though. There are complaints of rice coming in both through formal and informal channels at cheaper rates—rice that some Indian granaries are allegedly trying to discard from old stock.  And there is the perennial problem of the middleman, who acts as a barrier limiting access of the famers to the market, robbing them of the fruits of their labour.

The government should immediately declare the price and volume of procurement of Boro, which has a significant impact on determining the prices in the wholesale and retail markets. It should also discourage LCs through which crops and vegetables are often imported by businessmen which often has a negative impact on local markets.  Subsidies should be given on agricultural inputs such as seed, fertiliser and pesticide. Last but not least, farmers will have to be empowered to form organised forums which will enable them to bargain prices.

If these kinds of support are not given to farmers in a market economy, how can they compete with cheap, imported products? We tend to think that agriculture is an issue that concerns only peasants. It should be looked at as a national issue to remove the woes of the farmers.