HYDERABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Sindh President Nisar Ahmed Khuhro has said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif should take immediate steps to provide relief to growers of Sindh. He demanded restoration of the Rice Export Corporation of Pakistan and fixing of paddy rates by the federal government.

In a statement, Khuhro said the corporation should also start procurement of the crop after fixing its support price.

“Agriculture is the backbone of Sindh’s economy … the province produces 65pc of the country’s agricultural produce but its farmers have been suffering for the last two years because the federal government does not fix the support price … the situation has forced growers across Sindh to take to streets but federal authorities remain indifferent to their plight,” Khuhro said.

Khuhro urged the federal government to take notice of farmers’ protests and fix a support price for both paddy and rice and reactivate the Rice Export Corporation of Pakistan to ensure direct procurement so that growers receive fair returns.

He said federal government, on the pretext of IMF conditions, neither provided subsidies on fertilisers nor fixed support prices for paddy and rice, resulting in what he called “economic massacre” of farmers.

He added that traders were exploiting farmers in the open market, deducting 4kg per 40kg of paddy during purchases and while the crop’s price before harvest was around Rs3,500 per 40kg, it has dropped to Rs2,200, which was a clear injustice to growers. He criticised federal government for claiming it wanted to boost exports while simultaneously inflicting financial losses on those who supply raw materials.

He said that farmers buy fertilisers on credit and traders were charging heavy markups, thus no benefits to growers in end. He noted that cost of agricultural inputs had since risen sharply with DAP fertiliser now costing Rs14,000 per bag and urea around Rs5,000 per bag while agricultural growth in Pakistan fell to minus 3pc and yet the federal government paid no attention to strengthening the agriculture sector.

He recalled that the Rice Export Corporation of Pakistan had been established during Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s era to purchase rice and paddy at official rates, but the institution was later dismantled in favour of private exporters. He urged the prime minister not to leave Sindh’s small farmers each of whom owned 25 acres or smaller agricultural land at mercy of private rice exporters.

Khuhro reiterated his demand that the Rice Export Corporation be restored and made functional again, and that a support price for paddy and rice be immediately announced. He added that he would be writing a letter to the PM regarding this issue. He emphasised that paddy and rice are major foreign exchange earning crops for the country and, therefore, persistent economic exploitation of farmers must be stopped.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2025