Pakistan: Farmers Hold Protest To Demand 'Guaranteed' Support Prices, End To Corporate Land Grabbing

(MENAFN- IANS) Islamabad, Oct 19 (IANS) Small farmers in Pakistan held protests demanding "guaranteed" support prices, including Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 5,000 per maund for wheat and an end to corporate land grabbing and genetically modified (GM) crops, local media reported on Monday.

The nationwide protests organised by the Pakistan Kissan Rabta Committee (PKRC) showcased a deepening rural crisis caused by rising prices of fertilisers, diesel, electricity, seeds and non-viable crop returns.

During the protests, the participants opposed the economic policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank that promote market deregulation and the weakening of public agricultural institutions, leading Pakistani daily Dawn reported.

The key demands of farmers include a robust public procurement mechanism to protect growers from exploitation by powerful middlemen and market cartels, as well as the immediate restoration of the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO).

PKRC President Tariq Mahmood and Secretary General Riffat Maqsood said that small landholders were being pushed to the brink of financial collapse.

PKRC Federal Committee member Farooq Tariq said that the right path to national food security is based on genuine agrarian reforms, land redistribution for peasants who do not own land, transparent distribution of water, and support for local seed sovereignty, rather than giving national agricultural resources to commercial conglomerates and increasing GM crops, Dawn reported.

Wheat cultivation in Pakistan has been facing challenges at the start of the Rabi season as production costs reach Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 3,761 per maund and shortage of water affects irrigation supplies, Pakistan-based The Express Tribune reported.

Concerns regarding the condition of government wheat stocks and absence of a settled indicative price have increased uncertainty around the crop, sparking questions about food insecurity in Pakistan, The Express Tribune reported.

Central information secretary of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Kisan Wing Khalid Nawaz Sadhraich said that the government should take action to resolve these problems or risk further deteriorating the agricultural crisis.

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