The year 2024 has been one of unmitigated devastation for Pakistan’s farming community. A sector that feeds millions and underpins the nation’s economy has been rocked by a perfect storm of plunging crop prices, staggering yield collapses, and climate-induced calamities. Wheat farmers, reeling from a steep price crash, have seen their incomes vanish, while those growing cotton, maize, and rice have faced catastrophic crop losses ranging from 30 to 65 percent. As these farmers look to 2025, they see little light at the end of the tunnel, their plight worsened by an indifferent government and unrelenting systemic challenges.
This crisis is rooted in three interlocking factors: a vacuum of coherent agricultural policy, the imposition of an uncertain taxation regime, and the increasingly undeniable effects of climate change on farming. The government’s response to these existential challenges has been characterized not by support or solutions but by neglect, opacity, and disarray. Far from addressing the sector’s woes, policymakers have sown confusion and despair, leaving farmers to fend for themselves amid an increasingly hostile environment.
A case in point is wheat. Despite being a staple crop and a lifeline for millions of Pakistanis, the government’s handling of wheat policy has been nothing short of disastrous. Farmers have sown this year’s crop without a support price or any official policy framework, a glaring omission that reveals a shocking insensitivity to their plight. This year alone, farmers saw their income slashed by over 30 percent, and yet the government has refused to explain, let alone justify, its abrupt policy shifts. Instead, it appears more responsive to external pressures than to the needs of its own citizens.
Take the looming changes to the taxation regime, reportedly under the aegis of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Punjab government—which presides over 80 percent of Pakistan’s agricultural land—is reportedly preparing to shift from a revenue-based to an income-based taxation system, with plans to impose a staggering 45 percent tax on the highest income bracket. Worse still, leaked reports suggest this regime may be applied retroactively, further fueling uncertainty and anxiety among farmers. Double taxation could add insult to injury, with both landowners and lessees potentially taxed on the same income. In a sector already on its knees, these measures could be the final blow.
Then there is the climate crisis. For Pakistan’s farmers, climate change is no longer an abstract global threat; it is a measurable, devastating force. This year, extreme weather events struck at critical junctures, decimating crops already weakened by earlier economic losses. Rice, maize, cotton, and sesame—all crucial to the agricultural economy—suffered unprecedented losses. Sesame farmers, for instance, saw yields drop by 65 percent despite a significant expansion in acreage. Cotton and maize recorded 35 percent losses, while rice fared only marginally better. These losses underscore the fragility of Pakistan’s agricultural ecosystem, which remains acutely vulnerable to the growing unpredictability of climate patterns.
The cumulative impact of these challenges is devastating not just for farmers but for the entire nation. Agriculture accounts for nearly 20 percent of Pakistan’s GDP and employs more than 38 percent of its workforce. A crisis of this magnitude threatens food security, economic stability, and rural livelihoods. Yet, the government’s response has been woefully inadequate. Instead of devising robust policies to mitigate climate impacts, stabilize crop prices, and provide fiscal relief, it has retreated into silence, leaving farmers to battle insurmountable odds.
Pakistan cannot afford this indifference. What the agricultural sector needs is not platitudes but action: transparent policies, meaningful financial support, and a concerted effort to address the climate crisis.
