In view of the ongoing wheat crisis, Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI) on Wednesday urged the government to impose an agricultural emergency in the country.
Speaking at a press conference, PKI President Khalid Mehmood Khokhar criticised the government’s policies, saying that the country would have to continue importing wheat in 2023 because of that.
Khokhar said instead of boosting domestic wheat production, the government was providing support to farmers of other countries by buying the commodity at higher prices from them.
While Sindh has announced a wheat support price of Rs4,000 per maund, no announcement has been made by the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
Farmers are reluctant to increase the area under wheat cultivation because of the delay in the announcement of support price. “The Punjab government must immediately announce a support price of Rs4,000 per maund to stop wheat smuggling,” he demanded.
The PKI chief also pointed out fertiliser shortages in the market, demanding immediate action from the government. “Fertiliser shortages will also impact exports due to low yields of crops that are used as industrial raw material,” Khokhar elaborated.
He said the wheat crop sown in November was already looking weak due to inadequate fertiliser input. “The yield per acre is expected to be very low this year.”
“Compared to the previous Rabi sowing season, the price of a DAP (di-ammonium) bag has increased from Rs6,000 to Rs14,000. Resultantly, farmers had to reduce DAP use for the wheat crop. Despite the rising cost of DAP, the government did not give any support to the farmers,” he complained.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 12th, 2023.
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