Farmers are urging the government to declare an agricultural emergency to ensure food security, citing severe impacts from climate change, rising production costs, and declining crop prices.
Pakistan Kisan Ittehad President Khalid Khokhar highlighted on Tuesday that climate change is critically affecting agriculture, with severe heatwaves causing a significant drop in yields for sesame, rice, and cotton. Temperatures reaching 48°C have reduced sesame yields by 2-3 maunds per acre and rice by 5-50 maunds per acre.
Additionally, farm produce prices have plummeted—rice from Rs4,400 to Rs2,200 per maund and cotton from Rs8,500 to Rs6,000-7,000 per maund—while costs for tractors, fertiliser (Rs4,600 per bag of urea), and electricity for farm tube-wells (Rs55 to Rs70 per unit) have risen.
Mr. Khokhar criticized the government’s failure to procure wheat this year, leaving farmers unable to afford expensive inputs or high electricity bills. He warned that if current policies persist, the agricultural sector’s growth rate could drop from 6.2% last year to just 2% this year and potentially turn negative in the future.
He cited distressing cases, such as Imran Yousuf of Haroonabad, who committed suicide due to his inability to pay bills and cover farming costs. Mr. Khokhar emphasized the urgent need for an agricultural emergency and a comprehensive dialogue among experts to address the adverse effects of climate change and prevent further damage to the sector and food security.
