Islamabad: Khalid Mahmood Khokhar, President of the Pakistan Kisan Ittehad, expressed significant concerns about the future of agriculture in Pakistan and called for urgent government action to support the farming community during a press conference held on Sunday.

According to Union of Small and Medium Enterprises, Mr. Khokhar urged the government to clearly define its wheat policy and take steps to reduce the production costs for farmers, emphasizing that everyone deserves access to affordable flour. He highlighted the looming issue of a potential increase in urea fertilizer prices and criticized the government’s delay in deciding on the sugarcane procurement strategy, despite the crop being ready for harvest.

Mr. Khokhar linked the success of the national economy to the prosperity of agriculture, noting that climate change has severely impacted crop yields, with cotton production plummeting by 64 percent. He stressed that many farmers are currently unable to afford the sowing of their next crop due to these losses.

He called for the development of a comprehensive 10-year agricultural policy to address these challenges and warned that this year’s cotton production is expected not to exceed 4 million bales. Furthermore, Mr. Khokhar emphasized the need to eradicate corruption as a critical step toward national progress.