PAKISTAN – Agriculture
Pakistan Kissan Ittehad President Khalid Mahmood Khokhar has warned of staging a protest in front of the Punjab Assembly on January 26 if the legitimate demands of farmers are not accepted.
Mahmood said that agriculture is currently facing a severe crisis, and farmers are not even recovering the production cost of their crops, which is forcing them to protest.
Addressing a press conference at the Multan Press Club, Khalid Mahmood Khokhar stated that farmers do not protest out of choice but out of compulsion, and that the protest, scheduled for January 5, was postponed at the government’s request to January 26.
He said that an immediate agricultural emergency should be declared, as potato and kinnow growers are not even receiving their production costs. A 120-kilogram bag of potatoes, which should sell for Rs 8,000, is instead being sold for only Rs 1,800.
He demanded that the government purchase potatoes from farmers and export them, that support prices for all crops be fixed at least one year before sowing, that the wheat price be set at Rs 4,000 per maund, and that electricity be provided to agricultural consumers at Rs 15 per unit.
Khalid Mahmood Khokhar termed the suspension of net metering illegal and demanded its immediate restoration. He also called for at least two percent of the budget to be allocated to agricultural research, warning that if the legitimate demands are not accepted, there will be a “Dama Dam Mast Qalandar” protest outside the Punjab Assembly on January 26. – ER Report
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