AVN Report
JACOBABAD: The farmers of Garhi Khairo took to the streets, staging a sit-in to protest the meager prices being offered to them by local traders for their paddy produce.
The demonstration led to a blockade at the border area between Sindh and Balochistan, causing long queues of vehicles to amass.
Protest leaders highlighted the stark disparity between the government-fixed paddy price of Rs4,500 per maund in Sindh and the meager Rs2,200 to Rs2,300 per maund offered by traders. According to the farmers, the offered price fails to cover even the basic production costs, exacerbating their financial distress.
Last year’s catastrophic floods severely impacted rice production, resulting in an unprecedented 90 percent surge in rice prices. Approximately 1.9 million tons, accounting for 80pc of the anticipated crop yield in Sindh, were lost due to the floods. Despite this, the cost of production, both at the farming and milling levels, continued to escalate, further aggravating the situation.
The decline in paddy prices, notably in the Basmati 1509 variety, has been particularly evident in Punjab, with a decrease of almost Rs1,500 per maund within a month following the influx of new crops from the southern regions.
Furthermore, various grain markets in Punjab have witnessed a substantial drop from Rs5,300 to approximately Rs3,800 per maund. This decrease comes amidst expectations of Pakistan reaping its second-largest rice production of 9 million tons, owing to an expansion in cultivated areas.
Additionally, recent stringent measures against smuggling to Iran and Afghanistan are anticipated to contribute to the stabilisation of prices until the commencement of the upcoming month.
