Pakistan: Sindh farmers to boycott wheat cultivation over 45% “unconstitutional” Agri-Tax
The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture has rejected the 45% agricultural income tax, calling it unconstitutional and IMF-driven. Farmers plan legal action and a wheat cultivation boycott in protest, citing unfair crop prices and rising input costs. They urge a shift to oilseeds and demand urgent policy reforms.
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The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) has announced plans to legally challenge the recently imposed 45 percent agricultural income tax, calling it “unconstitutional, illegal, and unethical.” According to a report by Dawn, the chamber has also urged farmers across Sindh to boycott wheat cultivation this season in protest.
The decision was reached during a meeting held on Tuesday, chaired by SCA’s patron-in-chief, Syed Nadeem Qamar. Participants at the meeting unanimously opposed the tax, attributing its implementation to pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Farmers argued that they are not being paid fair prices for their produce, making the new tax even more unjustifiable.
During the meeting, the SCA called on farmers to refuse payment of the tax. The chamber warned that if the government attempted to arrest anyone over non-compliance, a broader movement of farmers would be willing to follow suit. “We are ready to go to jail, but we will not pay this tax,” farmer representatives declared.
The chamber formally announced a boycott of the agricultural income tax and demanded the same level of government support and concessions that are typically extended to industrialists.
As part of their protest, the SCA urged farmers to forgo wheat cultivation in the 2025–26 season due to what they described as insufficient support prices. Instead, they encouraged the planting of alternative crops such as mustard, sunflower, nigella (kalonji), and other oilseeds. Farmers noted that current wheat prices fail to cover production costs, making wheat farming unsustainable.
The chamber also expressed alarm over a reported 40% decline in cotton output, predicting that total production would fall short of four million bales. Despite a promise from the provincial agriculture minister of Rs11,000 per maund, farmers said they were only receiving Rs6,500.
To address this issue, the SCA called for the removal of an 18% local tax on cotton and recommended a 25% tax on imported cotton to discourage imports and boost local output. The chamber also highlighted the increasing financial strain on farmers caused by rising input costs, including a Rs22 per litre hike in diesel prices and a Rs600 increase in the cost of a single bag of DAP fertiliser over the past two weeks.
The SCA warned that these escalating costs, combined with poor crop returns, are pushing the agricultural sector toward collapse. It demanded an immediate rollback of recent price increases on diesel, fertilisers, seeds, pesticides, and other essential farming inputs.
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Source : Chinimandi
