Agriculture largely ignored

HYDERABAD: While industrialists noted some positive budgetary proposals, leaders of the farming community complained that the agriculture sector was largely ignored.

Sindh Chamber of Agriculture Senior Vice President Nabi Bux Sathio said Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb had not given adequate attention to the agriculture sector in his budget speech. “No incentive or noteworthy step is seen in the speech,” he added.

He pointed out that Rs4.18 billion had been allocated for research, but without clarity on targeted areas. He said the agriculture sector was increasingly vulnerable to climate change and stressed the need for climate-resilient, high-yield seeds for major crops such as wheat, cotton, rice and sugarcane. He warned that reliance on hybrid seeds in crops like rice, onion and chilli could be unsustainable in the long run.

Mr Sathio said even the Rs4.18bn research allocation was insufficient, as the sector required much greater funding. He also referred to Rs7.3bn allocated for cold storage facilities, questioning the nature of such infrastructure and stressing that allocations must be linked to transparent utilisation and accountability.

Agri leaders say Rs4.18bn research allocation lacks clarity and is insufficient

Ironically, he said, the textile industry was now dependent on imported cotton bales as domestic production had failed to meet demand. He said Pakistan would again spend valuable foreign exchange on importing six to seven million bales due to the lack of revival in local cotton production.

Mr Sathio said there was no mention of the livestock sector, despite its significant contribution to agriculture’s share in GDP. He suggested that the Rs7.3bn allocated for cold storage should instead be directed towards the livestock sector to promote milk processing, meat production and exports.

Sindh Abadgar Board President Mahmood Nawaz Shah also felt that the agriculture sector had not been given serious attention in the budget speech. He said the agriculture sector had shown resilience even after the 2025 floods that mainly affected Punjab.

He pointed out that water infrastructure allocations were mentioned, but major crops received little attention in the budget. He said the oilseed sector had also been ignored, despite its potential to reduce the country’s food import bill.

Small traders’ problems

Hyderabad Chamber of Small Traders and Small Industries President Mohammad Saleem Memon and Senior Vice President Ahmed Idrees Chohan said the budget included some positive economic and tax reforms that should be welcomed. However, they added that more concrete measures were still required to address the problems of small traders, SMEs and small industries.

They said the absence of a comprehensive national package for SMEs and small industries was a significant shortcoming. A large portion of employment, local production and business activity in Pakistan is linked to SMEs, yet no effective programme had been introduced for low-interest financing, industrial modernisation, technology upgradation and export support.

Mr Idrees said the demand for restoration of the Final Tax Regime (FTR) had boosted the export sector, but it was not included in the budget. Although the reduction of withholding tax on exports from 2pc to 1.25pc was a positive development, the industry still lacked a stable and predictable tax regime, he added.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2026