LAHORE, April 2: The Kisan Board Pakistan (KBP) and seven other farmer bodies on Wednesday rejected the new wheat procurement price, calling it “unjust and disappointing”.

KBP President Sardar Zafar Husain Khan told a press conference when government agencies themselves calculated the wheat production cost at Rs600 per 40kg, it was unfair to fix it at Rs625 offering a paltry profit of Rs25 per 40kg.

Flanked by representatives of seven other organisations, Mr Khan said why the government could not offer internationally competitive prices to domestic farmers when it imported it at Rs1,000 to Rs1,200 per 40kg -- benefiting the foreign farmers.

The prices of inputs have skyrocketed in the domestic market, with the DAP fertiliser registering over 300 per cent increase in the last year. This year, the country would be able to produce only 20 million tons against the national requirement of 22.50 million tons.

“All farmer bodies demand that domestic wheat price should be equalised with the international market, especially when prices of rice and cotton have already been linked to world,” he said.

He warned that farmers would not only stop selling crop to the government agencies this year if their demands were not met but also try to replace wheat with maize crop next year.