TOBA TEK SINGH: The Kisan Board Pakistan (KBT) has demanded to increase allocation for agriculture to at least 10 per cent of the federal budget as the development of the agricultural sector is not possible with the current 0.02 percent allocation in the budget.

Addressing a press conference at Tob on Thursday, KBT Central President Advocate Sardar Zafar Hussain Khan said that 60 to 70 per cent of the country’s population depended on agriculture, while 33 percent of the total labour force was also associated with this sector. He said agriculture contributed 24 per cent to the national GDP and more than 60 per cent to the country’s exports, yet it was being ignored in government priorities.

He said that agricultural research institutions had been paralysed due to the lack of funds, as a result quality seeds were being imported, while the cotton crop, once called white gold, had also been severely affected due to the lack of research and wrong policies.

Sardar Zafar stated that if the government wanted to generate resources for agriculture, then the additional incentives given to retired judges, generals and top bureaucrats such as free petrol, electricity, gas, drivers and other facilities should be abolished. Moreover, he said that only vehicles up to 1300cc should be provided to government institutions so that the remaining billions of rupees could be spent on farmers and the agricultural sector.

He claimed that in Indian Punjab, farmers were being provided up to 600 units of free electricity. Additionally, he said that a bag of urea costs about Rs900 in Pakistani currency there and DAP was available at cheap prices, but in Pakistan, production costs were increasing due to expensive electricity, fertilisers and fuel and the country’s farmers were losing their competitiveness in the global market.

Toba District JI EmirDr Attaullah Hameed, Abdul Haq Bhatti, Mahal Sarwar Bhatti and Mian Arshad Javed were also present.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2026