Just before the claim appeared online, Maryam Nawaz announced a 400-billion-rupee ($1.4-billion) package to provide farmers with tractors and machinery, as well as interest-free loans to buy seeds, fertilizers and pesticides (link saved).
Street protests erupted in Punjab in April with farmers protesting local government wheat purchases of 2.3 million tonnes, down from more than 4 million tonnes in 2023 (link saved).
The Punjab government, which buys part of the wheat produced in the province to stabilize the market price of the staple crop, has revealed a large stockpile that has left little storage for fresh wheat (link saved).
Farmers across South Asia have been hit by crop disasters in recent years, including deadly floods that washed away many farms in the summer of 2022.
Similar misleading posts circulated on X accounts supporting Pakistan’s opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) — a rival of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) that counts Maryam Nawaz in its ranks. The PML-N formed an alliance with its arch-rival Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), as well as several smaller parties following elections in February.
Direct purchase
A review of Maryam Nawaz’s announcement regarding the relief package for Punjab farmers was found to have been misquoted on social media.
In his speech on October 28, he said the idea that the government bought wheat directly from farmers was wrong – not that buying wheat from farmers was a “false idea”. (archived link).
“This is also a very wrong idea, a wrong idea that the government is buying wheat from the farmer,” he said in Urdu during the four minute 48 second clip.
“The government does not buy tobacco from the farmer. The farmer buys tobacco from the farmer, who sells it to the government at a high price.”
He then announced at the nine minute to six second mark: “And you will be pleased to know that we have decided not to buy wheat from the middle class.”
He did not say when the administration will start buying wheat from farmers, however, the provincial government usually announces wheat procurement policies in April every year.
His comments were widely reported in the Pakistani media, including no Newspapers The Express Tribune, Dawn and The News — which did not say anything about him criticizing the idea of ​​buying wheat directly from farmers (archived here, here and here).
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