Pakistani farmers demanded 5,000 rupees per maund of wheat — Dawn

Small farmers across Pakistan held protests on Sunday, demanding guaranteed support prices, including 5,000 rupees per maund of wheat. Participants also called for an immediate halt to what they described as corporate land grabs and the expansion of genetically modified crop cultivation, Dawn reports.

Protesters’ demands

The demonstrations were organized by the Pakistan Kissan Rabta Committee (PKRC). Participants said rural areas were facing an increasingly deep crisis due to sharp rises in the cost of diesel fuel, electricity, fertilizers and seeds, as well as unfavorable prices for agricultural products.

Among the protesters’ key demands are the immediate restoration of the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) and the introduction of an effective government procurement mechanism. In the participants’ view, this would protect producers from exploitation by influential middlemen and market cartels.

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Criticism of agricultural policy

Participants opposed economic policies which, they said, are supported by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and envisage market deregulation and the weakening of state agricultural institutions.

PKRC President Tariq Mahmood and the organization’s Secretary General Riffat Maqsood said that small landowners were on the verge of financial collapse. PKRC federal committee member Farooq Tariq stressed that the country’s food security should be ensured through agrarian reform, the distribution of land among landless peasants, transparent water allocation and support for local seeds.