ISLAMABAD   -  Pakistan People’s Party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari yesterday slammed the federal government for allegedly devastating the agriculture sector adding an agrarian country had been compelled to import cotton, sugar and wheat.

In a statement, the PPP Chairman said that the simultaneous import of wheat, sugar and cotton was a testament to the ineptitude of the federal government and marked a dark day in the history of Pakistan. 

“Imran Khan has brought us to the verge of collapse. If Imran Khan does not change his anti-agriculture policies then farmers would be the frontline in our protest against the government,” he warned.

Bilawal pointed out that cotton production in Pakistan has fallen by 34%, to its lowest level in 30 years. Pakistan’s famed textile industry too was on the verge of collapse because of the cotton crisis.

The PPP Chairman said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had imposed an agricultural emergency with a budget of Rs 65 billion which was not implemented anywhere. Cotton, chili, tomato, onion, rice, sugarcane and other crops were affected during the last rains but the government did not offer any incentive or compensation to the farmers, he stated.

He further said that while farmers are struggling to repay their agricultural loans, and as fertilizer prices were skyrocketing, Imran Khan mocks them by claiming that everything is fine.

Bilawal said that when PPP took over the federal government, wheat was being procured from abroad but within a year Pakistan became a wheat exporting country. 

However, he said, the government instead of compensating our farmers at Rs 2,000 per 40 kilograms of wheat, decided to import substandard wheat at Rs 2,750 per 40 kg.