Agriculture: Agri hopes pinned on SIFC

AS 2023, what the farmers call a disastrous year, wears out, they do not have much hope for 2024 as well. They list expected problems they are expected to face next year, some of them existential in nature: rising cost of production, market cartelisation, profiteering, price crashes, scarcity of seeds, bad and deteriorating governance and agriculture falling out of ruling elite — except of course for lip service. Until and unless the party coming to power in the February 8 elections declares an agriculture emergency and commits all political, financial and administrative resources to it, the sector would find it hard to survive, let alone thrive, say most of the farmers and experts Dawn spoke to. Dr Iqrar A Khan, author and contributor to national and provincial agriculture policies, advises the next government to control cartels in commodity markets if it wants the crop sector to perform. Making his point clear, he said that the government created high hopes for cotton growers when it declared an indicative price of Rs8,500 per maund. It led to a strong revival of crops, and production doubled in a matter of one season. However, as soon as cotton started arriving in the market, the price crashed to Rs6,500 per maund, robbing farmers of their hard-earned money and the government of credibility.