Record surge in POL prices: Rice crop at high risk in Punjab

Published: July 22, 2008

Not enough, according to the dealers and agents the petrol-pump owners in several parts of the Punjab were making lubricants purchase conditional to diesel supply, which has further triggered diesel price hike in the market.
“The diesel supply has been made conditional with lubricant purchase, which is injustice. We need only diesel but we have to pay extra due to the conditional purchase of lubricants,” Mudassar Ali a small farmer in Okara district said.
He also said that the alarming hike in the diesel price is further increasing the agriculture inputs. He said that the small farmers have been left with no other option but stay away from cultivation, as they are unable to purchase diesel to irrigate their fields.
According to the agriculturists, sufficient availability of water is a must to sustain rice crop, which seemed unlikely, as the farmers are unable to purchase diesel to irrigate their fields under present circumstances. “Ultimately, less irrigation will lead to less productions,” they maintained.

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