Pakistan: wheat target for next season likely to rise to 30 mln tons

Pakistan is likely to target 30 million tons of wheat production next year, as a higher minimum support price (MSP) and other concessions on inputs, especially fertilisers, are encouraging farmers to grow more, a senior food ministry official said on Monday.

“Next week, the government will hold a meeting of the Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) and shall fix the wheat target around 29-30 million tons for year 2021-22. We are in consultation with the provinces and compiling the data,” the official said talking to The News.

The FCA is a high-powered committee that meets twice a year ahead of either of the seasons (Kharif and Rabi) to fix and review the crops production targets after. It comprises the representatives of the federal food security ministry, provincial Agriculture departments, and also takes the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) and Metrological office on board.

In Pakistan, Kharif cropping season starts from April 1 and ends on September 31 and crops in the season includes sugarcane, cotton, maize and rice, while Rabi season starts on October 1 and concludes on March 31 and its crops are wheat, barley, gram, lentil, potatoes, onions, tomatoes etc.

During last Rabi season (2020/21), wheat production crossed the target of 27 million tons and achieved 27.5 million tons mark. According to provincial agricultural departments, Punjab’s production was 20.9 million tons, Sindh’s 4.04 million tons, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) 1.45 million tons, and Balochistan 1.15 million tons.

Punjab province has a total wheat stock of 3.86 million tons, Sindh 1.26 million tons, KPK’s 0.18 million tons and Balochistan has a stock of 0.085 million tons. The federal Pakistan Agricultural Storage & Services Corporation (PASSCO) is also holding 0.5929 million tons of wheat in their stocks. So, the combined wheat stock stands at 6.479 million tons as of today.

Meanwhile, the Federal Minister for National Food Security & Research (NSF&R) Syed Fakhar Imam held a meeting of the Wheat Review Committee (WRC) 2020-21. The representatives of all provincial food departments, PASSCO, and senior officials of Ministry of NFS&R attended the meeting.

Provinces shared their feedback and recommendations for the development of wheat crop mainly to ensure food security in the country. The committee was apprised about the latest wheat production estimates, wheat stock positions, wheat carry forward and procurement progress and update on wheat release price and minimum support price.

Imam sensitised the provincial food departments about the timely finalisation of the MSP, as it would be effective once finalised before the sowing season of wheat. The minister was briefed that the provinces have submitted their MSP proposals and were awaiting cabinet approvals.

The minister was also informed that Punjab and KPK had finalised their wheat release policy at Rs1950/40kg, whereas retail price would be Rs1,100/20kg, while the province of Sindh was yet to get final approval from its cabinet for its wheat release policy.

The minister said he was keen on announcing MSP well before the start of sowing season. He said the government’s enhancement of MSP from Rs1,400 to Rs1,800 produced a good result, which helped the country in harvesting the record crop (27.5 million tons).

He said factors that helped achieve this historic production included favorable weather conditions, availability of certified seed (513,000 tons), fertilisers, and irrigation water, etc. “Every year almost 50-60 lakh people are added to our population, which increases the total demand of wheat of the country,” the minister said.

“Through managing the controllable factors which include availability of high quality of seed that is rust resistant and certified, effective utilisation of water and proper usage of fertilisers and pesticides, overall production of wheat can be significantly increased.” Minister stressed that both the overall area under cultivation and per hectare yield needed to be increased. “The government has been focusing on availability of certified seed and for the upcoming season, around 530,000 metric tons of seed will be available including 160,000 tons of rust-tolerant varieties.”

He further said the government wanted to formulate a policy where every stakeholder was heard and all concerns were addressed. “An informed policy will be made before the sowing season to enhance wheat productivity and overall production.”

The News International

Tags: price, Pakistan, wheat, wheat production