The government has taken a timely decision to import rice since there is a severely low stock of rice in the government reserves. However, we will only get to see what happens when the time comes.
As per a report published in this daily, the rice mill owners have taken high rate so far. They have taken this opportunity due to the fact that government reserves are low. If the government had imported rice earlier, the mill owners could not have manipulated the rice market. However, the decision to reduce import duty to control the market has been right. This is true in the sense of simple economics, demand by supply and thus the price in question is regulated.
The farmers might be in considerable pressure to
sell their harvest for low prices as warehouses are
being filled with imported rice
Since there was no government reserve, the mill owners had a higher hand and were thus able to take what they asked. Now when importing of rice is considered, again the mill owners will be the ones to gain profits whereas the farmers might be in considerable pressure to sell their harvest for low prices as warehouses are being filled with imported rice.
This is truly an uncanny situation that might take place in the very near future, one that could have been avoided had the importing of rice been done ahead of time rather than now. Still, it is yet to determine what the future holds and we believe that such unscrupulous practice will not give rise amongst the fellow brethren of this nation. Above all, vigilance must be maintained so that there is no unfair ploy against the farmers to rob them of their hard harvest.
