Pakistan Kissan Ittehad warns of massive protest to seek relief for agriculture

MULTAN, Jun 21 (APP): President Pakistan Kissan Ittehad, Khalid Mahmood Khokhar, on Sunday warned of a countrywide protest movement if the government’s budgetary and agriculture-related policies were not revised, saying farmers had been left with no option but to take to the streets.

Addressing a press conference at the Multan Press Club, Khokhar said the protest would be unprecedented and could disrupt the supply of vegetables, fruits and milk to urban centres. He said farmers were deeply frustrated by what they termed the government’s neglect of the agriculture sector.

Khokhar criticized the federal and provincial budgets for failing to adequately support agriculture, claiming the sector’s share had been drastically reduced. He said agriculture was not even mentioned as a priority despite being the backbone of the national economy.

He maintained that rising input costs, including fertilizer, electricity and taxes, had made farming increasingly unviable. According to him, growers were unable to purchase DAP fertilizer at prevailing prices and were not being provided a level playing field compared to farmers in neighbouring countries.

Pakistan Kissan Ittehad leader said farmers across the country were observing protest by wearing black armbands and described the situation as alarming. He alleged that successive governments had failed to treat farmers as key stakeholders and had ignored the concerns of rural communities and smaller cities.

Khokhar said farmers did not need loans but fair prices for their produce. He stressed that reducing production costs and ensuring reasonable returns would significantly improve agricultural growth and strengthen the national economy.