Punjab Farmers Reject Govt Wheat Package and Threaten to Cut Cultivation

The Punjab Farmers’ Association has rejected the provincial government’s newly announced wheat package and threatened to massively reduce wheat cultivation next year. In a press conference held today, the association’s leader, Khalid Khokhar criticized the government’s handling of the wheat sector and complained of high electricity tariffs and soaring prices of urea and fertilizer as major barriers to sustainable wheat farming in Punjab. He said electricity connections for thousands of farmers have been severed, while no political party has taken ownership of the agricultural crisis. He also accused politicians from both Sindh and Punjab of using farmers’ issues for political leverage while ignoring their problems. The association condemned the federal government’s policy of subsidizing urban food prices at the expense of rural producers.