All Pakistan Kissan Ittehad on Wednesday announced to move the court of law against Punjab Government, over their demand to increase wheat support price to Rs 2000 per 40 kg.
The farmer’s body said that the government had fixed Corona Relief Funds for each sector last year, which were distributed as per the promises, however, the government failed to disburse the allocated funds for the agricultural sector of about Rs.65 billion.
They expressed reservations on the policies of the present government. They said if the policies continued, the agriculture sector would collapse and the country would have to import every food item.
The farmers demanded that the farmers of Punjab should be given a rate of Rs.2000 per 40 kg, but warned that if their demands are not fulfilled, farmers will be forced to take to the streets for their rights.
They noted that the Balochistan government and the Sindh government have already increased the support price of wheat to Rs 2,000. But, allege that the Punjab government has turned hostile to the farmers and not even paying the basic wages of the poor farmers.
The price of wheat that we have just imported from Ukraine and Russia is Rs. 2,500 per 40 kg. They questioned, that if the government is ready to give Rs.2500 price to Russian and Ukrainian farmers, what isn’t the government willing to pay the same to its own farmers, and has fixed the price at Rs.1600.
The price of DAP fertilizer in Pakistan is Rs.4,350, but in our neighbouring India, where farmers are protesting all over the country, the DAP fertilizer is available at half the price of Pakistan, the farmers continued.
We demand that laws be enacted for farmers to facilitate the sale, pricing, and storage of agricultural commodities, they added.
Research is being done all over the world from irrigation to new hybrid seeds and new useful methods are being discovered. But our poor farmers here are still using 100-year-old methods, due to which the food production is declining day by day, they lamented.