ISLAMABAD, May 20: The government last month imported 1.491 million tons of different types of seeds worth Rs180 million, show figures of the Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department. Seeds of corn, sorghum, vegetable, rice, potato and sunflower were tested at the post of entry and the quantity was up to the prescribed standards, documents of the department claim.

Sixteen samples from the imported seed were submitted to different field laboratories where they were tested for fungal diseases. All samples were found within the tolerant limits.

WHEAT STOCK: There was a total wheat stock of 366,000 tons available with the government at the start of the current month, the figures reveal.

On May 1, Punjab possessed a wheat stock of 50,000 tons, Sindh 88,000, NWFP, 69,000 and Balochistan 34,000 tons. The Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Supply Corporation (Passco) contained 125,000 tons.

The Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet in its recent meeting had set a total wheat procurement target of 4.73 million tons for 2005 for provincial food departments and Passco.

The government has decided to keep operational reserves of wheat to the tune of 3.38 million tons for 2005, besides keeping the strategic reserves at 3.83 million tons for the year.

The government has already decided that to support the private sector for wheat procurement, necessary instructions will be issued by the State Bank to facilitate financing for the private sector.