Pakistan’s agriculture sector is collapsing — and the blame lies squarely with the Shehbaz Sharif government’s disastrous neoliberal policies. The Pakistan Economic Survey, released on June 9 ahead of the federal budget, confirms what farmer organisations have been warning about for months — a sharp decline in agricultural production across all key sectors, signalling a deep-rooted policy failure.
According to the survey, the agricultural sector recorded a meagre growth rate of 0.56–0.6% in the past year — the lowest in the past nine years. Without the moderate growth in livestock (4.72%), fisheries (1.42%) and forestry (3.3%), the dismal performance of major crops would have dragged the overall sector into even deeper decline.
The most staggering drop occurred in major crops, whose collective production fell by 13.49%. Cotton suffered a massive 30.7% decline, with its cultivated area shrinking by 15.7%. Cotton ginning also declined by 19%, compounding the crisis. Wheat production declined by 8.9%, primarily because the government, despite earlier promises, refused to purchase wheat from farmers at PKR3900 (A$21.22) per 40kg, leaving growers in despair.
Other critical crops like sugarcane, rice and maize also registered declines ranging from 1–15%.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz claimed in December last year that wheat had been cultivated on 16.5 million acres (6.7 million hectares) — achieving 82% of the province’s target. However, on-the-ground realities have proven otherwise.
This year’s survey validates major farmer organisations’ criticisms of the government’s failure to procure wheat at the promised support price and warnings that farmers were abandoning wheat cultivation.
Instead of acknowledging its policy failures, the government blames climate change — erratic monsoons, delayed sowing and extreme heat.
However, it is the government’s neoliberal agricultural policies that have caused a steep drop in production by exposing farmers to the whims of the free market and refusing to implement meaningful protections.
For the first time, the survey admits that cultivated area has decreased — especially for cotton and wheat — which has had a direct impact on national food security. A crisis in the agricultural sector affects the entire economy — agriculture represents 23–24% of Pakistan’s GDP and provides employment to 37% of the workforce.
Hollow claims
Despite Nawaz’s bold claims of allocating PKR400 billion (A$2.18 billion) for various agricultural schemes — including PKR64 billion (A$348 million) specifically for boosting crop production — the outcomes have been dismal.
The much-touted “Kisan Card” scheme, which promised interest-free loans for seeds, fertilisers and pesticides to farmers owning 1–12.5 acres (0.4–5 ha), has been a disappointment.
While PKR53 billion (A$288 million) was allocated for the Rabi season (crops sown in winter and harvested in spring) under this scheme — and PKR32 billion (A$174 million) disbursed — wheat production still fell by 9%. This proves the scheme did little to support actual cultivation.
The government also claimed that 750,000 farmers had received Kisan Cards and were allowed to withdraw up to 30% of the loan in cash.
However, the survey exposes these boasts as false. The Kisan Card is not a grant — it is a loan that must be repaid, adding to farmers’ debt burden instead of offering real support.
What was truly needed was the enforcement of Minimum Support Prices (MSP) and a shift towards sustainable, ecological farming systems.
Ironically, such a system was once introduced in Pakistan, but is now being successfully implemented by farmers in Indian Punjab — while Pakistan remains stuck in cycles of debt and inefficient subsidy programs.
Another failed scheme is the Green Tractor Scheme, under which 9500 tractors were distributed with subsidies. But instead of reducing tractor prices, the government offered loans — again pushing farmers into debt.
The third phase of the Super Seeder Program, which offered machinery at a 60% subsidy, also failed to attract farmers.
The Green Pakistan Initiative
The most damaging initiative, however, has been the Green Pakistan Initiative — particularly the Cholistan Canal Project, which aimed to bring 480,000 ha of land under cultivation by building six new canals.
However, a powerful public resistance movement — especially in Sindh province — halted the plan. Lawyers, civil society and nationalist groups organised an 11-day protest in Babarloi in April, demanding a stop to new canals that would deprive Sindh of its share of Indus River water.
Following the protests, the Council of Common Interests — a constitutional body that resolves disputes between the federal government and the provinces — announced a freeze on canal construction, marking a significant victory for people’s resistance.
Yet, the Green Pakistan Initiative continues to symbolise the militarisation of agriculture, being 99.9% owned by the military. Army chief General Asim Munir and Nawaz jointly inaugurated the initiative on February 15 in Cholistan.
The plan includes: “Agri Malls” offering subsidised seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and drones; “Agri Farms” of more than 5000 acres (2023 ha) using advanced irrigation; research centres for flood laboratories, soil testing and agronomic studies; and a Land Information and Management System for Geographic Information System-based monitoring of weather, soil and crop conditions.
None of this has benefited small farmers — inequalities have grown instead.
Rural families are being forced to migrate to cities in search of menial jobs, as agricultural production plummets and the country becomes increasingly dependent on food imports.
Policy shift needed
The Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee (PKRC) — a coalition of 30 Pakistani farmer organisations founded in 2003 that is affiliated to global peasant farmers’ movement La Via Campesina — said this year’s economic survey is a wake-up call.
The PKRC said it is time for the government to abandon corporate farming and military control over agricultural resources, and put forward the following urgent demands:
- Stop the corporate and military takeover of small farmers’ lands
- Redistribute public agricultural lands among landless farmers, especially women and youth, in plots of up to 12.5 acres (5.06 ha)
- Enforce a ban on new canals, particularly those impacting the Indus River system
- Legal implementation of MSP, starting with wheat at PKR4000 (A$21.76) per 40 kg
- Ban on private wheat imports, and instead strengthen the state-owned Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation for public procurement
- Accountability for the wheat crisis, including arrest and investigation of hoarders and speculators
- Regulation of agricultural markets to prevent price volatility
- Reject International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organisation policies that undermine farmers
- Ensure real access to interest-free loans for small-scale farmers, while excluding agribusinesses and banks from subsidies
- Promote food sovereignty and agroecological farming led by small-scale farmers.
Nationwide protests
Across Pakistan — in Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — farmers are protesting corporate farming, canal projects, lack of MSP enforcement and wheat import policies. The PKRC’s demands are rooted in the fight for just access to land, water, seeds and other natural resources, fair pricing and protection from the monopolies of corporations and military elites.
These demands call for a radical transformation of Pakistan’s agricultural sector — towards sovereignty, sustainability and equity for all.
[Farooq Tariq is the general secretary of the Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee.]