BADIN (Report by Dr. Mahfooz Shah) — Farmers in Badin have raised their voices against the sudden and steep decline in paddy prices, accusing rice mill owners and traders of exploiting growers through a cartel-like arrangement. The farmers, who held an emergency press conference at the National Press Club Badin, announced the formation of a new organization called the Badin Abadgar Ittehad (Badin Farmers Alliance) to safeguard their economic rights and resist what they termed as “systematic exploitation.”
Leading the press conference, Khalifo Tariq Aziz Memon, along with other farmer leaders including Aziz Dero, Abdullah Chandio, Ali Haider Panhwar, Danish Noor, Sanwal Gopang, and Lala Nawaz, expressed outrage over the ongoing price manipulation in the rice market. They warned that if immediate corrective measures were not taken, thousands of farmers in the district would face financial ruin.
Memon stated that paddy cultivation covers hundreds of thousands of acres in Badin — making it the district’s primary crop — and that farmers had invested heavily this season despite rising costs. “We bought expensive seed, fertilizer, and pesticides and spent enormous amounts on land preparation,” he said. “But now, powerful traders and rice mill owners, acting in collusion, are buying paddy at only Rs 2,200 per maund, which is sheer exploitation.”
He pointed out that just a month earlier, the rate was Rs 3,300 per maund, but the price had now been slashed overnight by nearly one-third. “This is economic murder,” said Memon. “Such practices will destroy the agricultural economy and force growers out of business.”
The farmer leaders further alleged that traders were making additional illegal deductions by falsely labeling the crop as “moist,” cutting three to four kilograms per maund from the total weight. “This so-called ‘moisture cut’ is nothing but open robbery against poor farmers,” said Aziz Dero.
