The end of wheat farming?

The government’s wheat support price, fixed at approximately Rs3900 per 40 kilogrammes (roughly Rs97.5 per kilogram), was intended to shield the farmer from the turbulence of the open market. This season, however, the government has largely refrained from procuring wheat, leaving farmers at the mercy of fluctuating open-market rates. In many areas, wheat now trades distressingly low, between Rs2,100 and Rs2,400 per 40 kilogrammes, far below the announced support price. Soaring input costs, from seeds and fertilisers to the most basic agricultural necessities, have stripped away whatever slender margins once remained.

If this decline is allowed to continue, the consequences will stretch far beyond individual livelihoods. Disheartened and defeated, many farmers are beginning to contemplate abandoning wheat cultivation altogether. Such a retreat would not only jeopardise the nation’s food security but would also sever an ancient bond between the people and the land. It is therefore incumbent upon policymakers to take real and tangible action.

Ali Ashiq Sindhu

Lahore