As the Middle East crisis deepens and oil prices rise, multiple protests in the capital this week added to public anxiety. Key farm leaders fiercely criticised high input costs and low crop prices, particularly for wheat and sugarcane, and demanded urgent government action. Yet they stopped short of backing the farmers’ march, dismissing it as ‘political and badly timed’.

Preparing for the planned march, Kissan Ittehad Pakistan (KIP), registered with the Election Commission as a political party in July 2021, is confident of a strong turnout. Speaking by phone, KIP President Khalid Hussain Batth said he expects around 20,000 farmers to converge on Islamabad on the 25th, demanding the Punjab Chief Minister’s resignation over what he described as the worsening plight of farmers.

He claimed the self-financed movement also enjoys support in Sindh and Balochistan. Key demands include prompt payment of sugarcane growers’ dues and announcement of a fair wheat procurement policy and minimum price before sowing begins.

Khalid Mahmood Khokhar, President of Pakistan Kissan Ittehad, criticised the government for neglecting agriculture, the economy’s mainstay. He blamed inconsistent, inadequate policies, abrupt changes, soaring input costs, unsustainable crop prices, poor land-use management and ill-informed officials for eroding agriculture potential and pushing farmers to the brink. “Farmers, manufacturers and consumers are all paying for the government’s missteps. The last three years have been particularly difficult for the farming community,” he said.

High input costs and low crop prices increase unrest in the agricultural sector

Mr Khokhar, however, distanced his organisation from the planned farmers’ march, which he believed was driven more by politics than farmers’ concerns and hardships.

Quratulain Marri, a senator since 2018 who also manages her family farms in Sanghar, blamed the Punjab government’s apathy and what she describes as its leadership’s arrogance for the planned farmers’ protest.

“Farmers are protesting because the government refuses to take their genuine concerns seriously, dismissing them as ‘funded agenda’. Of course, protests cost money, and organisers may be seeking funds from somewhere, but that does not make their grievances any less real.

“We have problems in Sindh too, but small farmers receive several subsidies while medium-sized growers have direct channels to raise their concerns at relevant forums without taking to the streets.

“Protests happen when those in power refuse to listen, engage or talk. Farmers understand that every problem cannot be solved instantly. But when their concerns are belittled as fabricated, and they are ridiculed as blackmailers, they are left with little option but to protest.”

Nawab Zubair Talpur, President, Sindh Abadgar Ittehad, who joined Kissan Ittehad leader Khalid Hussain Batth at a Karachi press conference last week, said he attended to highlight growers’ demands but never committed to joining the march.

“We support all efforts to resolve farmers’ immediate concerns, including fixing a minimum wheat price and clearing sugarcane dues before the crushing season, as well as longer-term issues such as high input costs, adequate water supply and fair crop prices. But we are not inclined to join extreme forms of protests at this stage.”

Mahmood Nawaz Shah, President, Sindh Abadgar Board, known for making the farmers’ case with data and proposing workable solutions, echoed other farm leaders. He considered the march premature and was sceptical of its impact.

“Rhetoric doesn’t deliver. Mobilisation and finances matter, but a meaningful movement also needs clear demands, viable solutions, a carefully crafted strategy and broad support from sister organisations. I don’t see this march easing pressure on farmers, even setting aside questions about organisers’ credibility, he said. “We are apolitical. As a professional body, we engage with the government to resolve our community’s problems. We are not in the business of installing or dislodging governments.”

Khalid Saeed Wattoo, a farmer and writer, called for a more conducive ecosystem for agricultural growth, lamenting the neglect of research and extension services and what he described as policymakers’ poor understanding of the sector’s importance and challenges.

He was particularly concerned about wheat, critical to food security and grown on about 20 million acres, more than all other major crops together. “Returns from wheat shape farmers’ capacity to invest in better seeds, fertiliser and pesticides for subsequent crops, including vegetables and pulses. When wheat earnings fall, the quality and output of other crops also suffer,” he said.

Mr Wattoo criticised inconsistent wheat support price and procurement policies across provinces. He also questioned high fertiliser prices, arguing that fertiliser companies’ roughly 32 per cent return on equity in Pakistan, compared to 12-13pc elsewhere, suggested the market was tilted against growers. He also highlighted disparities in abiyana rates — about Rs400 per acre in Sindh against Rs1600 per acre in Punjab. On farmers’ protest, Mr Wattoo expressed doubts about both its organisers and targets.

Many urban-based experts refrained from commenting, citing limited understanding of agrarian issues, lobbies and rural politics. Others pointed to inadequate research on how the rural economy and its power structure have changed over four decades, while questioning agriculture census findings of extensive land fragmentation. “The repeated return of landed aristocrats to federal and provincial legislatures suggest their continuing grip over constituencies, seemingly at odds with census findings,” one expert observed.

Samar Jatoi, leader of Sindh Hari Committee, the historic farmers’ body that mobilised landless peasants and helped secure the Sindh Tenancy Act 1950, said he had neither been approached nor invited to join the march.

Criticising those who ‘sell farmers misery’, for influence and funding, Mr Jatoi nevertheless expressed unconditional support for the peasant cause. He said many haris continue to live in subhuman conditions, denied even basic rights over the land they till.

The writer is a former Dawn staffer

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, September 21st, 2026