Kissan Ittehad wants Rs5,000 per 40kg wheat support price

LAHORE: Pakistan Kissan Ittehad President Khalid Khokhar has demanded a support price of Rs5,000 per 40kg wheat for the upcoming season, warning that farmers may not sow the crop if the government delays announcing policies. Addressing a press conference, Mr Khokhar stated that wheat sowing was about to commence, yet the government had not yet announced a policy for the crop.

He explained that farmers were struggling to afford balanced fertilizers due to not being able to recover production costs. Consumption of DAP fertilizer fell from 2.39 million to 1.25 million tonnes. Khokhar proposed providing farmers with the international market price for wheat to achieve record production and highlighted that higher crop prices in previous years led to better yields.

Sugarcane cultivation increased by 16% to 2.454 million acres, with sugar production expected to rise by 25-30%. Khokhar urged the government to retain sufficient sugar stocks for domestic consumption until November and export the surplus to avoid losses to growers. He cautioned that failing to export surplus sugar would depress sugar prices and harm farmers' incomes, impacting future crops.

The farmers' leader criticized the government for not prioritizing food security, stating that subsidies were not the solution, as rising input costs and inadequate returns discouraged the younger generation from pursuing agriculture. Mahmoodul Hassan Bukhari, another leader, also criticized the government for delaying decisions despite having crop and stock data, warning that previous delays in exporting surplus sugar had shifted losses onto farmers and that farmers might delay sowing wheat if a policy was not announced promptly.