LAHORE: Growers have condemned what they describe as extremely low returns on farm produce amid an unprecedented surge in production costs.
Farmers are experiencing one of the steepest declines in income in history, making farming economically unviable for 90 per cent of the country’s subsistence cultivators. In recent years, the farming community has been squeezed between skyrocketing production costs and extremely low returns.
According to an assessment, farmers have faced up to 53 per cent losses since April 2024 compared to the previous year’s rates. Representatives from various growers’ bodies claimed that cumulative losses from the sale of various crops have surged to Rs 1,000 billion.
The soaring prices of crop inputs and electricity tariffs have rendered farming unviable, particularly for small landholders who make up around 7.47 million of the total 8.3 million farming community. Khalid Khokhar, president of the Pakistan Kissan Itehad (PKI), alleged that the farming community has suffered a major economic setback due to the provincial and federal governments’ failure to honour commitments to ensure fair returns for farmers.
Cotton farmers faced significant losses last season, and a similar trend is emerging in the current season. The reduction in cotton cultivation can be attributed to the government’s failure to announce and implement a support price, making the crop less profitable compared to other competitive crops.
Farmers are suffering from artificially low prices caused by the middleman’s market monopoly. Cotton farmers are receiving just Rs6,000 per maund (40 kg) for seed cotton, compared to last year’s price of Rs 8,500 -- a 29 per cent decline.
Rice paddy growers are facing a 53 per cent loss this year, with prices offered at Rs1,700 per maund for hybrid varieties compared to last year’s rate of Rs3,600 per maund. Sesame growers are experiencing even steeper losses, selling their produce for Rs11,000 per maund against last year’s price of Rs20,000, indicating a 45 per cent loss.
Maize prices also dropped from Rs2,700 per maund to Rs2,100 per maund in Spring 2024, reflecting a 22 per cent loss from the previous year. The failure to procure wheat at the Rs3,900 per 40 kg support price, coupled with unnecessary wheat imports despite a forecasted record domestic production, has severely impacted farmers, PKI leaders lamented.
A spokesperson for the Kissan Board Pakistan (KBP) criticized the exorbitant input costs of production. The price of urea has increased by 28 per cent, from Rs 3,500 per bag in 2023 to Rs4,500 per bag in 2024, and should be fixed at Rs3,000. The high electricity tariff has also severely impacted farmers, with the government’s revised rates for tubewell electricity ranging from Rs40 to 60 per unit, which should be reduced by at least half, demanded Haji Ramzan of the KBP.
Farooq Bajwa, a central leader of the Punjab Water Council, said the government sharply increased ‘abiana’ without consulting farmers, while electricity tariffs and diesel rates for tubewells have surged beyond farmers’ means.
Farmers rely on tubewells for irrigation during extreme summer conditions, and with the cost of canal and tubewell water skyrocketing, they face significant losses due to high production costs. He urged the government to address the severe situation faced by the farming community due to lower commodity prices and declining returns, emphasizing the need for urgent measures to mitigate the negative impact on the agriculture sector and alleviate farmers’ financial distress.