Pakistan needs a Farmer-First grain storage policy

The Central Argument: The Farmer Has the First Right

Pakistan's grain sector stands at a critical juncture. For too long, policy has been shaped by the interests of machinery importers and corporate commodity buyers rather than the farmers who actually grow the grain. The core proposition of this article is straightforward: the farmer who grows wheat, rice, sesame or corn has the first right to store, preserve, and market that produce — and government policy should be structured to enable and reward exactly that.

No blanket subsidies are being proposed here. What is needed is a purposeful enabling environment, short-term post-harvest financing to help farmers hold their grain, and long-term financing for grain handling, cleaning, and drying equipment. If these three pillars are put in place, the gains are substantial: more income for the farmer, higher-quality grain for exporters, and a reliable strategic grain reserve for the government.

The post-harvest crisis: Why quality Is lost

The most critical stage is being ignored

The period immediately after combine harvesting is the most critical stage of grain quality control — and it is the stage receiving the least policy attention. At present, grain discharged from the combine's auger ends up in a trolley or hired truck and is rushed to a mandi floor or directly to a flour or rice mill. There is no structured drying, cleaning, or interim storage at the farm level.

For moisture-sensitive crops such as rice, corn, and sesame, this gap is not merely inconvenient — it is destructive. If moisture levels are not reduced within approximately 24 hours of harvest, grain quality deteriorates rapidly and aflatoxin can form. Pakistan's rice exports to the European Union have suffered repeated setbacks precisely because of aflatoxin contamination. Each time it occurs, meetings are convened, dryer financing is discussed, and nothing changes on the ground.

All three crops — rice, corn, and sesame — are predominantly sun-dried, leaving them entirely exposed to erratic post-harvest weather. Mechanised grain drying at the farm level is not a luxury; it is a quality imperative.

Distress sales and the erosion of farmer income

Government procurement policies have historically pushed farmers into distress sales at harvest time, when prices are at their lowest. The farmer who has battled input costs, weather uncertainty, and water scarcity is then compelled to offload grain immediately simply because there is no infrastructure or financing to allow him to wait.

This season, something notable has shifted. A significant volume of wheat is being stored by farmers themselves, and mandi floors are near-empty. Wheat prices are hovering around Rs 3,500 per 40 kg, and the government-shortlisted procurement companies are struggling to source at that price. The farmer has, quietly, begun to exercise his right to hold. The policy framework must now catch up with this reality.

I have advocated for farmer wheat storage support for nearly 20 years. With the government now largely out of direct wheat procurement, the urgency has only grown. The first right to store farmer-grown wheat must rest with the farmer.

What needs to happen: Three enabling pillars

1. A policy framework that rewards preserved grain

Government policy must shift from one that encourages distress selling to one that recognises and rewards quality grain storage. This means allowing farmers to pledge their landholding at commercial rates and, subsequently, to pledge their stored grain as collateral for financing. The farmer sleeping on the roof of his wheat godown — his grain store doubling as his bedroom — is not a figure of poverty. He is a custodian of national food security who deserves formal recognition and institutional support.

2. Short-term post-harvest financing

Farmers need access to bridge financing between harvest and the point at which they choose to sell. This enables them to avoid distress pricing and hold grain until market conditions improve. Such financing is not a subsidy — it is a working capital facility analogous to what any commercial trader already accesses routinely.

3. Long-term financing for grain handling, cleaning and drying equipment

Bulk handling, drying, and cleaning equipment must become accessible at the farm (dera) level. The technology is not exotic. The same farmer who now manages a combine harvester — or sends his sons to operate and repair one — is entirely capable of operating grain handling and drying equipment. What is lacking is access to affordable long-term financing for this machinery, not the farmer's capability.

For wheat: grain handling equipment to clean and store in bulk on-farm.

For rice: mechanical dryers financed at scale.

For sesame and corn: specialised, gentle-handling dryers appropriate to the crop's sensitivity.

The mechanisation debate: Where ADB financing should be directed

What Is Already Working

Combine harvesting has transformed over four decades of organic, farmer-driven growth. In 1986, I was part of one of the first small-scale combine harvesting service provider ventures in the region. Today, the grandchildren of those early operators own combines, discuss credit in crores, and train the next generation in repair and operations — without formal degrees, and without ongoing subsidies.

The same organic growth is visible in mechanical rice transplanting. Farmers and service providers are already adopting the technology, understanding its constraints and working around them. Nursery management, the additional 10-day maturation period caused by transplanting shock, and the once-problematic weed control issues are all being addressed at the grassroots level. Along the Gujranwala bypass connecting to Hafizabad and Alipur, one can find 30 to 40 setups selling used rice harvesters, transplanters, and parts. The market is working.

Where the ADB financing should be going

Against this backdrop, I have strong disagreements with ADB Project 57196-001 (November 2025): "Capacity Building to Support Just Transition to Low Carbon and Mechanised Agriculture." The project proposes subsidised financing and import credit lines for harvesting and mechanical rice transplanting equipment — machinery that is already commercially established, privately financed, and, in many cases, already benefiting from government loan schemes offering five-year mark-up-free credit and machinery subsidies of up to Rs 1 million.

Subsidising an already-thriving commercial sector serves machinery importers, not farmers. It crowds out used machinery service providers — who typically acquire three machines for the price of one new unit — with artificially cheapened new imports. There is no commensurate improvement in grain quality from a new machine versus a well-maintained used one.

The financing being sought from ADB should instead be redirected to post-harvest grain handling, cleaning, and drying infrastructure — the country elevator concept, adapted to Pakistan's conditions. This is where the transformative quality and income impact lies, and where the market has not yet delivered on its own.

The rice transplanting question

A broader question deserves consideration: is continued heavy public investment in rice cultivation prudent? Mechanical transplanting has its place, but manual transplanting persists — supported in Punjab increasingly by Sindhi labour migrating seasonally from as far as Badin. The labour market has adapted. Directly Sown Rice (DSR), once hampered by weed control challenges, is re-emerging as a viable alternative given improved herbicide availability.

As a farmer who has been growing rice for 26 years, I have fundamental questions about whether perpetuating a water-intensive, subsidy-dependent rice monoculture is the right long-term answer. Sesame, a soil-building, less water-intensive, export-oriented crop, deserves serious policy encouragement as a replacement for early rice. The infrastructure needed to support sesame — multi-crop or specialised dryers, and gentle bulk handling equipment — overlaps substantially with the post-harvest infrastructure argued for throughout this article.

The vision: Bulk handling, country elevators, and farmer empowerment

Pakistan must move from bag-based grain handling to bulk. Grain currently sun-dried on roadsides and mud-plastered surfaces, loaded bag by bag onto trucks, represents enormous quality and quantity losses. The country elevator concept — adapted to local scale and conditions — offers a pathway to transforming this picture.

The farmer who grows grain against all odds, manages combine harvesters, and now quietly holds wheat back from a depressed market is demonstrating exactly the entrepreneurial capacity that policy should be channeling, not suppressing. Trust your farmer. Finance his post-harvest infrastructure. Get the policy framework right.

This is doable. It is sustainable. It is essential if Pakistan is to maintain and improve grain quality for both domestic food security and export competitiveness.

Policy recommendations at a glance:

1. Establish the farmer as the primary rights-holder for storage of farm-grown grain.
2. Introduce short-term post-harvest pledge financing against stored grain.
3. Provide long-term financing for on-farm grain handling, cleaning, and drying equipment.
4. Redirect ADB financing from already-subsidised harvesting machinery to post-harvest grain management infrastructure.
5. Promote sesame as a strategic alternative to water-intensive early rice, backed by appropriate drying and handling infrastructure.
6. Adopt the country elevator model — adapted to local conditions — as the national vision for bulk grain storage.