LAHORE: Pakistan Kissan Ittehad President Khalid Mahmood Khokhar on Friday warned that farmers would be “forced onto the streets” if their demands are not met within three days, as he called for an autonomous commission to investigate massive losses in the wheat sector.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Khokhar alleged that farmers had suffered losses amounting to Rs2,200 billion over the past two years due to flawed policies, poor pricing and bureaucratic mismanagement. He demanded that a high-level, independent commission headed by the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly be formed to probe the past three years and fix responsibility.

He strongly criticised the government’s wheat policies, claiming that despite a production cost of Rs3,410 per maund in August 2024, wheat was sold at Rs2,700, while in 2025 the price fell further to Rs2,200.

“Where is the promised minimum support price?” he asked, adding that even as of April 24, government-selected private companies had not procured a single grain.

Mr Khokhar also called for the immediate abolition of the Price Control Department, accusing it of contributing nothing while harassing farmers.

Referring to past decisions, he said the impact of wheat imports in 2023 was still being borne by farmers, while initiatives like the Electronic Warehouse Receipt (EWR) system failed to materialise. He further criticised the government’s claims of providing free gunny bags, stating that such packaging is typically the buyers’ responsibility, not the farmers.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2026