By Aftab Ahmed

HYDERABAD: The Sindh chapter of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has urged the federal government to immediately fix a support price for paddy and rice and restore the Rice Export Corporation to ensure official procurement of the crops.

In a statement on Friday, Sindh PPP President Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said agriculture was the backbone of the national economy, yet farmers in Sindh had been suffering for the past two years due to the federal government’s negligence.

He lamented that the federal government’s failure to set support prices for paddy and rice had forced the growers across Sindh to protest on the streets, but their grievances continued to be ignored.

He urged the prime minister to take immediate notice of the situation, fix a support price for both crops and reactivate the Rice Export Corporation to ensure fair returns to the farmers through direct government procurement.

Khuhro said that under the pretext of the International Monetary Fund’s conditions, the federal government had withdrawn subsidies on fertiliser and avoided fixing support prices, leading to what he termed an economic massacre of farmers.

The PPP leader pointed out that in the open market, traders had been exploiting the growers by deducting four kilogrammes (kg) from every 40kg of paddy purchased, while the crop’s rate had dropped from Rs3,500 to Rs2,200 per 40kg. He called it a clear injustice to the farming community.

He criticised the federal government for claiming to promote exports while simultaneously causing losses to the very sector that supplied raw materials.

Farmers, he noted, were buying fertiliser on credit and paying heavy markups, leaving them with no profit.

Khuhro highlighted the sharp rise in input costs, saying that a bag of DAP fertiliser now cost Rs14,000 and that of urea Rs5,000, while agricultural growth had declined to negative three per cent.

Yet the federal government was paying no attention to strengthening the agriculture sector, he said.

Recalling that the Rice Export Corporation was established during the era of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to procure rice and paddy at official rates, the Sindh PPP president said the institution’s dismantling in favour of private exporters had severely hurt the farmers.

He urged the prime minister not to leave Sindh’s small growers owning 25 acres or less at the mercy of private rice exporters. The Rice Export Corporation should be restored and made functional again, and a support price for paddy and rice should be announced without delay, he said. He also announced that he would write a letter to the prime minister regarding the issue.

Paddy and rice were among Pakistan’s major export-earning crops and the ongoing economic exploitation of farmers must end, Khuhro said.

Published Date: November 9, 2025