Sheikh Waqas Akram slams budget 2025-26 as anti-farmer

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: PTI leader Sheikh Waqas Akram has criticised the federal budget 2022-26, calling it “useless for farmers” and warning of a deepening crisis in the agricultural sector.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he said farmers are unable to afford basic inputs like fuel and tractors, with tractor prices now exceeding Rs5 million.

“How can a poor farmer buy a tractor today?” he asked, adding that production of tractors has also declined while their prices continue to rise.

He noted a 75 percent decline in the mango crop, a 31 percent decrease in cotton production, and a 13 percent drop in wheat yield.

“Agriculture is being systematically destroyed,” he said, pointing out that farmers have suffered losses worth Rs2,200 billion.

Sheikh Waqas lamented that the government has failed to provide relief despite farmers voting for PTI in the February 8 elections. “This is a farmer-hostile budget. Their children are starving,” he said.

He questioned whether the costs of tractors, fertilizers, and tube wells have decreased and demanded that the government assess the actual costs farmers bear versus their earnings. “It’s time the rulers looked at what the farmer is investing and what he is saving,” he stressed.