WHEAT PRICE FIXATION 57 Among other bases, we can think of bulk-line cost defined to cover 85 per cent of production. It would be interesting to examine the implications of price fixation on the basis of this bulk-line cost. In the district of Burdwan the cost of production per quintal of wheat at Rs. 140 will cover 88.43 per cent of output, 76.36 per cent of holdings and 85.63 per cent of area under wheat as revealed in Table II. The district harvest price of wheat, on an average, at which most of the produce is disposed of in the market is reported to be Rs. 99.12 per quintal. Only around 46 per cent of total output is produced by about 31 per cent of total farmers covering 39 per cent of area under wheat at a cost conforming with this harvest price. This harvest price, however, does not cover even cost Ai exclusive of land revenue and cesses worked out at 85 per cent level of bulk-line. At the procurement price of Rs. 105 per quintal of wheat announced by the Government of India, at least 55 per cent of wheat growers are incurring losses if judged on the basis of cost D. The price of wheat should, therefore, be fixed at Rs. 130-140 a quintal for the district of Burdwan in order to cover 85 per cent of production and to protect about 75 per cent of wheat growers in the district. In Bankura district the harvest price, on an average, is reportedly noted to be Rs. 106.20 a quintal which is observed to be less than cost Ai exclusive of land revenue and cesses calculated at about 85 per cent level of bulk-line as displayed in Table II. The harvest price is also noted to be higher than procurement price; this implies the ineffectiveness of procurement price in protecting the wheat growers in Bankura district. In order to cover bulk of the production and to protect most of the wheat growers of the district, the price should be fixed at about Rs. 150 per quintal of wheat as indicated by Table II. The average harvest price of wheat in Hooghly district is noted to be Rs. 108.13 per quintal which is adequate to cover cost Ai exclusive of land revenue and cesses of only about 24 per cent of wheat growers contributing roughly 40 per cent of total output in the district as set out in Table II. It is also noted here that the harvest price of wheat is observed to be higher than procurement price, indicating the irrelevance of procurement price in protecting the wheat growers in the district. It is also seen from Table II that the price of wheat has to be fixed above Rs. 150 per quintal with a view to covering the bulk of the production and protecting the interest of the majority of wheat growers. It is evident from the foregoing discussion that separate prices are to be fixed for each district in order to cover the bulk of the production and protect the maximum number of wheat growers in each of the districts under study, i.e., Rs. 130-140 a quintal for Burdwan, and above Rs. 150 for Bankura and Hooghly. This may distort the inter-district price parity. The alternative to this is the announcement of uniform administered price for the state as a whole. Table III showing