Kissan Ittehad announces protest outside Parliament on September 25

The Kissan Ittehad has announced that it will stage a major protest outside Parliament House on September 25 if the government fails to meet its demands and resolve farmers’ problems.

During a joint press conference at the Karachi Press Club, the farmers’ leaders discussed the overall situation regarding wheat in the country, rising flour prices, sugar exports, agricultural commodities, water shortages, and the fuel subsidy announced by the prime minister.

Addressing the press conference, Khalid Hussain Bath said wheat cultivation begins in Balochistan and Sindh in October and in Punjab in November, but so far, none of the provincial governments has announced a wheat procurement policy.

He said that for the past three years, farmers have been forced to sell wheat below its production cost. According to him, government policies have resulted in a decline in wheat cultivation, and Pakistan now has to import 750,000 metric tons of wheat.

Bath claimed that importing 750,000 tons of wheat would cost approximately $380 million, benefiting farmers abroad rather than Pakistani farmers. He said the production cost of wheat is around Rs4,500 per 40 kilograms and that farmers should receive a price covering their costs along with a 20 percent profit.

The Farmers’ Alliance chairman said the government was purchasing wheat from abroad at approximately Rs5,500 per 40 kilograms, while local farmers were receiving around Rs3,200 per 40 kilograms.

He further claimed that imported wheat would cost approximately Rs6,000 per 40 kilograms by the time it reached Pakistan, whereas locally produced wheat had been purchased from farmers for between Rs3,000 and Rs3,200 per 40 kilograms.

Bath warned that if farmers were not provided relief, Pakistan could be forced to import between 3 million and 3.2 million tons of wheat next year. He also expressed concern that the figure could rise to between 3.5 million and 4 million metric tons if the current situation continued. He said flour prices had already reached Rs8,000 per 40 kilograms.

Bath appealed to the prime minister to include farmers in the fuel relief scheme and provide subsidies on diesel, saying diesel is essential for tractors and agricultural machinery. He said farmers spend Rs20,000 to Rs25,000 on tractor diesel alone for wheat cultivation, while high diesel prices have become one of the biggest challenges for farmers this year.

He also called for subsidies on fertiliser, urea and other agricultural inputs. He said the cost of transporting sugarcane to mills had doubled and that growing wheat for the upcoming season was becoming increasingly difficult for farmers.

Bath said that despite onion and tomato crops being ready in Balochistan, tomatoes and onions were still being brought in from Afghanistan. He demanded that the inflow of these agricultural commodities from Afghanistan be stopped.

The Kissan Ittehad also called for an end to the alleged illegal entry of onions, tomatoes and other agricultural produce from Afghanistan, warning that failure to do so would lead to a major protest in Balochistan.

He said the cost of producing onions had risen above their production value, while smugglers were allegedly controlling onion prices and benefiting from black-market activities, leaving Pakistani farmers to bear the losses.

According to the Farmers’ Alliance, potato, cotton, onion and tomato growers are also facing severe difficulties. The group said poor government policies were contributing not only to farmers’ problems but also to inflation affecting ordinary citizens.

Regarding sugarcane, Khalid Hussain Bath called for the crushing season to begin in November and demanded payment of farmers’ outstanding dues.

He also demanded that the minimum support price for sugarcane for the upcoming season be fixed at Rs650 per 40 kilograms.

He warned that if the support price was not announced on time and farmers were not offered Rs650 per 40 kilograms, farmers would refuse to supply sugarcane to sugar mills and would protest outside all sugar mills.

Bath said the cost of cultivating sugarcane was Rs357 per 40 kilograms and claimed that it was 385 percent higher than in India. He said sugarcane production costs in India range from Rs130,000 to Rs140,000 per acre.

According to Bath, the price of sugarcane is determined in advance in India, whereas Pakistani farmers have suffered losses on every crop for the past three years.