HYDERABAD: The Sindh Abadgar Ittehad (SAI) has urged the federal government to fix fuel prices at the pre-war level and reopen the Afghanistan border for trade so that crops could be exported and farmers could get adequate prices of their produce.

Speaking at a news conference at the local press club on Sunday, SAI president Nawab Zubair Talpur, Javed Riar, Anwar Kamboh and other leaders welcomed Pakistan’s meditation efforts to end the US-Israeli war against Iran, and hoped that it would lead to a permanent solution.

They said that the recent hike in oil prices had affected all sectors of economy, including agriculture. They said that the farm sector, however, was already neglected and its losses were being borne by farmers.

They said that the increased fuel prices unaffordable to farmers. According to them, Pakistan meets 70pc of oil demands through local refiners whereas only 30pc of it was imported. They said that elsewhere in the world, countries were offering subsidies but in Pakistan, the federal government had created insurmountable difficulties for people.

They said that due to lower market prices of crops, middlemen were taking advantage of the situation. They said that the government was not fixing prices of crops while taking advantage of IMF conditions. They wondered had IMF restrained the government from fixing prices, then why the support price of wheat was fixed. Even this price doesn’t meet the cost of production, according to them.

They ridiculed the Rs1,500 per acre subsidy offered by the Sindh government, and said this too is only for those who possess the Benazir Hari Card. They stated that Rs50,000 per acre is the minimum cost.

They said that the cost of production had increased substantially.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2026