LAHORE: The Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee (PKRC) has announced nationwide protests in 68 districts across the country on April 17, marking the International Day of Peasant Struggles.
The demonstrations will demand an end to corporate farming, withdrawal of eviction notices issued to tenant farmers, fixing the wheat support price at Rs4,000 per maund, and abandoning the plan to procure wheat through private companies.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, PKRC General Secretary Riffat Maqsood, Farooq Tariq Qamar Abbas and Haris Ahmed stated that the past two years had been extremely damaging for farmers. Crop prices had continuously declined while input costs had sharply increased. This year, farmers growing potato, cauliflower, sesame, and other crops suffered record losses, with no meaningful government support.
They strongly criticised the privatisation of wheat procurement, stating that 11 private companies would now purchase wheat through middlemen and store it in government warehouses, a role previously performed by provincial food departments and federal entity Passco. It was clear, they said, that these companies would not pay even Rs3,500 per 40kg to farmers.
Under the banner of corporate farming, land cultivated by tenant farmers for over a century was being handed over to new contractors and their agents. In Hasilpur, tenants had been issued eviction notices. PKRC made it clear that farmers would not hand over their land under any circumstances and would resist these ‘land grabs’ through peaceful struggle.
They announced that protests would be held across 68 districts and over 100 locations, where farmers, tenants, and agricultural workers would collectively reject anti-farmer policies. They said that demonstrations would take place in numerous cities and towns across Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balochistan. In Lahore, the protest would be held outside the Press Club.Meanwhile, PTI Punjab Kissan Wing General Secretary Ejaz Shafi said projected wheat harvest in Punjab was 22.5 million tonnes while the government was only ensuring purchase of 3mt, which was only 13.3 percent of the total harvest.
Almost 33pc was normally retained by farmers for own consumption and seed for next Rabi crop and this left 53.7pc of harvest at the mercy of middlemen and arhtis, he added.
Reports coming in from Sindh and southern Punjab districts already indicated that arhtis were forcing price down to Rs2,800-3,000, he claimed.
He demanded that the government must double its purchase and must also ensure that reserve price was maintained by regulating the market through its selected aggregators.
Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2026
