WHEAT is the most important staple food crop of Pakistan. The federal committee on agriculture had set wheat production target of 26m tons for 2015 crop cultivation.

However, the country is set to harvest a bumper crop exceeding the set production target as the weather was conducive and farmers have sown new varieties and made judicious use of other inputs like fertilisers and weedicides. It merits mention that last year the country produced 25.29m tons of wheat.

The ECC at its meeting on Jan 23 had decided to allow export of 1.2m tons of wheat in 2015. The decision was taken in view of the expected harvest of bumper crop this year and the country had an excess of supply which opened the door to exports. The wheat traders have said that the country may miss a target to export 1.2m tons of wheat this year after a decline in global prices which have slowed sales. The sluggish export has also made farmers worrisome in getting the minimum support price fixed by the government for this year’s harvest.

According to media reports, the country has a cumulative stock of 5.013m tons at present, as compared to 2.236m tons last year around this time. The import of 700,000 tons of wheat by trade during July-December 2014 is the reason for the stock pile-up. Experts have said the price of our wheat remained higher than its competitors in world markets, though the federal and provincial governments were given hefty subsidies against exports.

Thus there is a strong need for reviewing the situation so as to dispose of surplus stock. Moreover, farmers have started harvesting of wheat crop in Sindh, while in Punjab harvesting will start in the first week of April. The government has revised upward the new support price by Rs100 per 40kg and fixed it at Rs1,300 per 40kg for the new crop (2015).

If the problem is not resolved early, there is an apprehension that the farmers would sell the grain below the support price.

Khan Faraz

Peshawar

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2015

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