Pakistan’s Potato Farmers Drown in Crores of Losses Despite Record Yields

While Pakistan celebrates a season of high agricultural productivity, the country’s potato growers are facing a devastating financial catastrophe. Across the fertile belts of Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a “bounty” has turned into a burden, as a massive market crash has left farmers unable to recover even their basic production costs.

A Mathematical Nightmare

The crisis is defined by a staggering disparity between investment and return. Currently, the average production cost for a single acre of potatoes stands at approximately Rs. 350,000. To break even, farmers typically need a market price of at least Rs. 50–60 per kilogram.

However, current market rates have plummeted to a dismal Rs. 20–30 per kilogram. In some wholesale markets, prices have dropped so low that the cost of transporting the crop to the city exceeds the value of the produce itself. For many growers, this translates to an estimated loss of hundreds of thousands of rupees per acre, totaling billions (crores) across the industry.

The Perfect Storm: Why Prices Collapsed

Several factors have converged to create this “production glut”:

1. Export Barriers and Border Closures: Historically, Afghanistan has been a primary buyer of Pakistani potatoes and a vital transit route to Central Asian markets. The recent and prolonged closures of the Torkham and Chaman borders have halted exports, trapping millions of tons of surplus potatoes within domestic borders.
2. Lack of Cold Storage: Small-scale farmers, who lack access to modern cold storage facilities, are the hardest hit. Without the ability to store their harvest and wait for better prices, they are forced into “panic selling” to avoid the crop rotting in the fields.
3. The Middleman’s Grip: In the absence of a government-regulated price mechanism, middlemen and “arthis” continue to dominate the wholesale markets, buying at rock-bottom prices from desperate farmers while retail prices for consumers remain relatively high.

The Human Cost and Future Risks

The impact of this crisis extends beyond the balance sheet. Most small farmers rely on high-interest loans for seeds, fertilizers, and fuel. With their profits wiped out, thousands are now sinking into a debt trap.

There is also a looming threat to national food security. Disheartened by this year’s losses, many farmers are planning to significantly reduce potato cultivation in the next season. This “bandwagon effect”—where farmers flee a loss-making crop—often leads to severe shortages and price spikes for consumers the following year.

The Demand for Action

Growers’ associations and organizations like the Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI) are urgently calling for government intervention. Their primary demands include:

• Minimum Support Price (MSP): Establishing a guaranteed floor price for potatoes to protect farmers from market volatility.
• Diplomatic Resolution for Exports: Prioritizing the reopening of trade routes with Afghanistan and Central Asia.
• Infrastructure Investment: Subsidizing the construction of cold storage units at the tehsil level.
• Direct Market Access: Reducing the influence of middlemen by facilitating direct sales from farmers to retailers.

Conclusion

Pakistan’s potato farmers are the backbone of the country’s vegetable supply chain, yet they remain the most vulnerable to market shocks. Without a coherent national policy for crop planning and export stability, the “bitter harvest” of 2025 may just be the beginning of a larger agricultural decline. For the farmers currently staring at heaps of unsold produce, the time for “promises” has passed; only practical, immediate relief can save them from total ruin.