I don’t anticipate anything different in 2026 if the government keeps repeating its past practices and the farm sector faces losses by not getting good prices for its produce. Fruits, vegetables, etc, always remain at the mercy of nature, and when, luckily, farmers were not hit by natural calamities and able to have bumper harvests, market forces, including buyers and middlemen, exploit them by lowering prices of agricultural products, while the prices of inputs keep on rising unendingly.The governments, federal and provincial, have been least bothered to intervene as regulatory bodies. In the last two years, instead of making efforts to safeguard farmers’ interests, the government has instead strengthened anti-agriculture, exploitative forces. Despite legal and constitutional obligations for fixing the price of sugarcane crops, the government refrained from discharging its mandatory responsibility. In the case of wheat, farmers suffered badly due to a 50pc reduction in the price of wheat. Now, farmers confront similar problems even with onions and tomatoes — two essential kitchen items. Lastly, the 45 per cent tax on agriculture income, along with a 10pc super tax, has equalised the agriculture sector with the industrial sector without declaring the farm sector as an industry. This state of affairs may compel farmers to invest less in input applications, leading to losses in overall production of crops, particularly grains, which would translate into food security issues ultimately.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, December 29th, 2025