February 06, 2007	Tuesday	Muharram 17, 1428

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Our Staff Reporter

LAHORE, Feb 5: Associations of farmers have expressed concern over stagnation in wheat production.

Talking to Dawn, representatives of farmer bodies substantiated their claim with production figures that show stagnation in production during the last seven years. During these years, population has increased at least by 17 per cent, widening the gap between demand and supply of basic staple food. According to them, the Punjab produced 16.48 million tons of wheat in 1999-00 at a per hectare average of 2,667 kg.

Next year - 2000-01 - the production dropped to 15.41 million tons at an average of 2,465 kg per hectare. It dipped further in year 2001-02 to 14.59 million tons with average going down to 2,392 kg per hectare.

During the last year, 2005-06, the production recovered a bit and hit 16.81 million tons at an average of 2,659 kg per hectare - some eight kilograms less than what the province produced in year 1999-00, they claimed.

During these years, the population increased by at least 2.5 per cent annually, which means it has risen from 137 million in 1999-00 to 160 million in 2005-06. The proportionate increase in wheat production should have gone up to 18.86 million tons against present 16.8 million tons, they said.

Muhammad Amin Chattha of Aiwan-i-Zarat thinks that the only option for Pakistan is to increase per acre yield. It has a lid on its land and water resources. It is precisely because of these two reasons that the country is left with no option but to increase per acre yield.

“One should not forget that Pakistan is much below the international average and can narrow the gap by taking appropriate steps. The trouble with Pakistan agriculture is that of research. During the last few decades, the researchers have not been able to come up with any high-yielding seed. The current variety was introduced in the early nineties and the farmers are sowing the same,” he said.

Ibrahim Mughal of the AgriForum says a host of steps are needed to increase wheat production. “On the top of it should be prices of input. Pakistan is the only country where agriculture is being taxed. Instead of subsidies, the tax regime is not allowing agriculture to perform to its full potential. The use of urea for wheat is currently at peak, but price factor is hampering the required usage. Its present price is over Rs550 against government declared Rs525. The farmer bodies have been requesting the government to withdraw sales tax on farmn inputs instead of subsidising them after the tax,” he said.

Such subsidies, he said, never reached farmers. The recently-announced subsidy of Rs9 billion had also not reached the farming community and fertiliser price was still higher than promised by the government, he insisted.

“he government has a habit of making half-hearted and patchy attempts to improve country’s agriculture instead of taking a holistic view and making sustained efforts for it,” says Farooq Bajwa of the Farmers Associate Pakistan (FAP).