Chaudhary Mohammad Ashraff

1 week ago | dawn.com | Chaudhary Mohammad Ashraff |Khalid Wattoo

This wheat season has turned out even more punishing for farmers than the last. Buyers are scarce, and market prices have plunged to around Rs2,200-2,300 per maund — far below production costs and nearly half the support price announced for the two crops of 2023 and 2024. Even more concerning, Punjab’s harvest — accounting for nearly 75 per cent of national production — has yet to peak.

2 weeks ago | dawn.com | Chaudhary Mohammad Ashraff |Khalid Wattoo

Pakistan, home to over 250 million people, is edging close to a deeper water crisis. Climate change is tightening its grip, with rising temperatures, shrinking glaciers, and increasingly erratic rainfall. As a result, the water supply has become less reliable than ever. Hotter days mean higher evaporation, driving up demand for both drinking water and crop irrigation — which consumes over 90 per cent of the country’s available water.