LAHORE: Various farmers’ organizations have announced province-wide protests on Tuesday against plummeting wheat prices and the government’s failure to support wheat growers.
Addressing a press conference at the Lahore Press Club on Monday, Khalid Hussain Bath, Central Chairman of Kissan Ittehad Pakistan (KIP), stated that farmers would stage demonstrations in every district across Punjab. He criticized the government for not procuring a single grain of wheat last year despite setting an official support price.
He said that this year’s wheat production has also declined sharply due to climate change. Bath accused the government of lacking any concrete policy to aid farmers, instead of pushing them toward financial ruin. He warned that a collapse in the agricultural economy would inevitably lead to a broader economic crisis.
According to Bath, around 70,000 farmers cultivated wheat this year, but only 1,000 were provided with subsidized tractors under a government scheme. He further alleged that even those tractors were of substandard quality and procured through questionable means.
The KIP chairman pointed out that farmers are facing rising input costs, estimating an average of Rs 4,000 per maund of wheat. “How can we sell our produce at Rs 2,000 per maund?” he asked, demanding fair pricing. He warned that if the government uses force to suppress the protests, farmers from across Punjab would march toward Lahore and Islamabad. He, however, emphasized that the demonstrations would remain peaceful but powerful.
Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami Punjab and the Kissan Board Pakistan (KBP) also slammed the government’s handling of the wheat crisis. JI Punjab Chief Javed Kasuri accused the government of neglecting local farmers by failing to purchase wheat domestically last year while importing $1 billion worth of wheat from Ukraine.
He said that farmers, already burdened by debt, are in severe distress due to the lack of government support and soaring input prices. “The ruling elite have always turned a blind eye to the plight of farmers,” Kasuri added. “Only if agricultural inputs are made affordable can wheat be produced at reasonable rates.”
Both the KBP and the JI have demanded that the government set the wheat support price at Rs 4,000 per maund. The KBP has also announced a sit-in at Punjab Assembly Chowk on Tuesday to press their demands.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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