The farmers won’t grow wheat next year if the government does not buy the crop from them and provide any relief, Kissan Ittehad Chairman Khalid Hussain Bath has said.

“The government will never be able to bear the loss,” he said in an interview with Dus with Imran Khan which was aired on Aaj News on Saturday.

Farmers across Punjab have been protesting against what they call the government’s “plagued” wheat procurement policy.

Punjab contributes more than 75% of the total wheat harvest, according to media reports and this year the market crashed and growers are forced to sell the staple food crop much below the support price set by the government.

They claim that the government procured wheat despite having surplus production in the country.

Bath warned that the government would not be able to afford such a crisis as the country does not have enough dollars to procure wheat for the people. He added that no one knows what would be the rate in future.

He claimed that the imported wheat was getting in the storage house and the government sold that to the buyers. “They did not allow checking the wheat.”

According to Bath, the middlemen earned a profit of Rs1,500 on 40kg of wheat after they bought the staple crop at Rs3,500 per 40kg of wheat.

“They [government] only needed one million tons of wheat and they imported 3.5 million tons. Now the situation is that Pakistan’s farmer is living in a difficult situation,” he said.

“We go to the middlemen who give us fertiliser, diesel. We also took our food ration receipt to him, he said you have to buy worth Rs10,000 ration. He takes 30% extra profit from us on everything. In return he goes to the bank and opens an account in our name and keeps the chequebook as if someone does forgery he would register FIR against them.”

He clarified that farmers were not fighting with Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz or Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

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When asked, he clarified that it was very difficult for a small farmer – who has less than 12 acres of land – to grow as he has to also ensure his and his cattle’s food.

“Right from the first day, they [middlemen] have profit. Each flour mill has earned billions of rupees. If for two to three weeks, Punjab does not buy wheat, 60% to 70% of it will be sold to middlemen.”

He added that the flour mills should sell a roti – bread – for Rs10 or Rs8 if they are buying wheat at such a low rate.