The Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Dr Kabir Ahmed Sidhu, has proposed setting up a national agricultural spot market that would connect farmers, warehouses, banks and buyers through one common digital trading platform. The aim, he said, is to help growers secure better prices, reduce losses after harvest and gain easier access to financing. He made the proposal at an international conference of the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics titled "Mission 100 Billion Dollars".
What the proposal would do
Sidhu said the market would combine standardised grading, transparent bidding and electronic warehouse receipts to modernise farm trade. An electronic warehouse receipt is a digital record of produce held in an approved warehouse, and under the framework it would let farmers seek bank financing against that stock instead of selling straight after harvest. Provincial authorities would keep regulatory oversight of agricultural markets, while the SECP would provide the technological framework.
The spot market would begin with wheat, rice, maize, cotton and sugar, brought in gradually. Sidhu also stressed registering traders and commission agents, keeping digital records of transactions and stocks, and maintaining a reliable system for timely payments. He said these steps could strengthen accountability and better protect farmers and buyers.
Storage gap and crop losses
Sidhu said agriculture contributes 23.44 percent to Pakistan's gross domestic product (GDP), the total value of goods and services produced in the economy, and that the country's crops are estimated at about Rs8.8 trillion. Citing post-harvest loss estimates of 20 to 40 percent, he said each percentage point of crop losses represents approximately Rs88 billion. He also pointed to a wide gap between approved warehouse capacity, at about 326,000 metric tonnes, and annual production of around 55.7 million metric tonnes of dry commodities suitable for conventional storage.
He argued that modern warehouses, cold storage and efficient supply chains could attract investment into agriculture, reduce wastage and improve access to export buyers. He also called for modernising rules on licensing, fees and procedures for moving commodities.
Open questions and next steps
The sources describe a proposal, not a finalised scheme. They do not give a timeline, a launch date, a cost for the platform, or the specific rule changes needed at provincial level. In the same address, Sidhu outlined wider capital market goals, including a target of 2.5 million stock market investors, but he did not link those goals to the farm market plan.
Aasan alfaaz mein
SECP chairman Dr Kabir Ahmed Sidhu ne kisanon ke liye national agricultural spot market banane ki tajveez di hai. Is market mein kisan, godam, bank aur kharidar aik digital platform par jur sakte hain, aur kisan fasal godam mein rakh kar bank se qarza le sakte hain. Abhi yeh sirf tajveez hai, aur is ka koi shuru ka waqt nahi bataya gaya. Kisanon ke liye iska matlab behtar qeemat aur kam nuqsan ho sakta hai.
