Muhammad Saleem

Poor rural infrastructure, such as bad roads and the absence of storage facilities, costs farmers dearly as they often find it difficult to get their produce to markets timely.  Dr Ahmed, a faculty member at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, said farmers were battling the changing climate and pulling out all the stops to ensure food for consumers. “However, poor infrastructure hampers their efforts as they cannot dispatch their products to the market easily.” “The situation is straining their pockets and diminishing their profits, which is not a good omen for the country’s agriculture sector. We have raised this issue multiple times that youth are not interested in agriculture due to indifferent attitude of the policymakers,” he said. Talking to WealthPK, he said nobody seemed ready to tap the potential of the youth, who are looking for greener pastures.

He said by introducing farmer-friendly policies Pakistan can ensure a bright future for youth. He urged rulers to work strenuously to improve the infrastructure, which influences the agricultural economy and fosters a connection between youth and the agriculture sector. “When farmers can store their produce efficiently and smoothly ship it to markets, it will strengthen their financial position. The bolstered financial position will ultimately act as a magnet to youth, drawing them towards the agricultural sector,” he observed. Ahmed said shortage of storage facilities and poor infrastructure leads to piling up of transportation costs for the growers. “Besides, they also find it difficult to deliver their produce timely in the markets, which ultimately lowers the price of their harvest. Rainy season brings more hardships for them as the rural area roads become impassable.”

Imran Ahmed, a farmer from the Tandlianwala area, told WealthPK that the condition of rural infrastructure, especially storage facilities and roads, didn’t hold a candle to the facilities provided to farmers residing near the urban areas. He said the situation was badly affecting the lives and businesses of rural farmers. Sharing the impact of poor roads on his financial position, he said: “We cannot improve the infrastructure, which requires plenty of funds. The lack of proper infrastructure is squeezing our wallets. The rulers are only raising hollow slogans that all sorts of facilities are being ensured to resolve the issues of the farming community. But on the ground, the situation is like night and day.” Imran said the bad condition of roads in rural areas forces farmers to pay extra money to dispatch their yields to the markets.

He said sometimes they could not transport their produce to the local markets due to bad weather and the poor condition of roads. “This situation costs farmers dearly and inflicts financial losses on them.” “We receive lower rates as our produce loses freshness due to delayed transportation,” he added. Muhammad Sarwar, a trader of the fruit and vegetable market, Sidhar, told WealthPK that delayed transportation creates issues for the traders, vendors and farmers. “We all are bending over backwards to ensure consumers get fresh vegetables and fruits. Whenever consumers find the quality of the yield is not good, they aren’t ready to pay a good price,” he said.

He said a number of times they arranged their own transportation to pick products from farmers in far-off areas. Imran, the farmer, said the lack of proper storage facilities is a big issue for farmers, increasing their post-harvest losses. “To avoid financial losses, sometimes farmers have to sell their produce at throwaway prices. The fear of spoilage creates opportunities for the middlemen to exploit farmers. The policymakers can save farmers from the clutches of exploiters by ensuring modern storage establishments,” he said.

Credit: INP-WealthPk