Protests in more than 100 cities
Farmers staged coordinated protests in more than 100 cities across all four provinces on Friday 17 April 2026, International Farmers’ Day, on the call of the Pakistan Kisan Rabita Committee. The demonstrators demanded that the government fix the wheat support price at Rs4,000 per maund (40kg) and reverse policies on corporate farming and agricultural privatisation.
In Lahore, hundreds of farmers gathered outside the Press Club, carrying banners and placards calling for an end to corporate farming, the restoration of state-led wheat procurement and protection for tenant farmers facing eviction.
What the organisers said
Kisan Rabita Committee General Secretary Riffat Maqsood said farmers had suffered significant losses over the past two years because of falling crop prices and rising input costs, and that crops including potatoes, cauliflower and sesame had faced “record losses” this year without compensation. She criticised the government’s decision to hand wheat procurement to private companies, saying the role of the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) had been reduced, and added that private buyers were unlikely to offer farmers Rs3,500 per 40kg.
Farooq Tariq, president of the Haqooq-e-Khalq Party, told the Lahore gathering that tenant farmers who had cultivated land for decades were facing eviction under corporate farming and government-backed agricultural initiatives, with eviction notices issued in areas including Hasilpur. He said tenant farmers would resist removal from their lands through peaceful protest.
Kisan Rabita Committee Central Secretary Information Hasnain Jamil Faridi described the agriculture sector as “near collapse” and demanded a minimum support price of Rs4,000 per maund and official pricing mechanisms for all major crops. He rejected reported conditions linked to the International Monetary Fund on the taxation of agricultural tube wells, calling them unacceptable to the farming community.
Where the protests took place
In Punjab, demonstrations were reported in Lahore, Bahawalpur, Toba Tek Singh, Jhang, Khanewal, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Bhakkar, Pakpattan, Multan and other districts. In Sindh, farmers protested in Shikarpur, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Badin, Mirpurkhas, Larkana, Thatta and elsewhere. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, protests were held in Peshawar, Kohat, Charsadda, Swabi, Nowshera, Swat, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan and other districts. In Balochistan, demonstrations took place in Quetta, Qila Abdullah, Nasirabad, Jhal Magsi, Jafarabad and Kalat.
The committee also demanded compensation for losses suffered by growers of potatoes, cauliflower, peas and sesame, land ownership rights for tenant farmers, landless peasants and agricultural labourers, and the withdrawal of eviction notices from state-run farms including Katore Farm, Hasilpur and Muhammad Nagar Seed Farm in Arifwala.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a synthesis of published material, not eyewitness reporting. Sources were reviewed on 2026-04-17.
- Voicepk.net — Countrywide protests: Farmers seek higher wheat support price and end to corporate farmingPublished 17 April 2026 · Primary: the Pakistan Kisan Rabita Committee's countrywide demonstrations on International Farmers' Day, the demand for a Rs4,000 per maund wheat support price, the district lists, and the statements by Riffat Maqsood, Farooq Tariq and Hasnain Jamil Faridi.
