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| Concessions to millers may aggravate crisis |
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Sunday, May 18, 2008
THE wheat grinding capacity of flour mills in Punjab is higher than the total flour consumption in the country and the Punjab government should strictly monitor the production of excess flour in the province if it seriously wants to stop wheat and flour smuggling.
The country suffered because the PML-Q government gave a free had to flour millers in 2007. A countrywide shortage of flour ensued due to this flawed policy.
There is a good reason why the flour mills in Punjab strongly reacted to the new provincial government’s wheat policy even though it has many loopholes. The flour mill owners belong to an influential segment of the society. They tolerated strict administrative checks of the PML-N led government until it had full support of the Pakistan People’s Party. They, however, began agitating and went to the extent of threatening to go on strike when they observed that the relations between the two coalition partners had become strained.
The Punjab government has averted the strike for the time being by conceding to some demands of the flour mills. The government has allowed flour mills to procure wheat for three days of grinding. This is flawed because if all mills grind wheat according to their eight-hour grinding capacity, then there should be a flour glut in the province. But this has not happened.
The wheat is either being secretly hoarded for an opportune time or is being somehow smuggled. Pakistan has paid a high price for administrative lapses in the past. It is important that government keeps things under control until procurement targets are met as it is crucial for the food security of the country.
With the per capita wheat consumption of 318 grammes per day (FAO Rome 1991), Pakistan genuinely needs 18.81 million tonnes of wheat per year for its 162 million population against the production of over 21 million tonne.
The government of Pakistan as such should have no worries about flour shortage if it succeeds in prudently regulating wheat distribution. Wheat production, consumption and its distribution after grinding are the areas that the Punjab government should look into in order to ensure food security of the nation.
In 1998, the Punjab government headed by Shahbaz Sharif ensured availability of wheat in the province by issuing wheat to each city according to its population. The wheat was released for two to eight hours grinding capacity of the mills depending on the area in which the mill was located. There was no shortage large mills was reined in by encouraging small mills to gear up production and keep flour supply smooth.
Flour mills in Pakistan mushroomed in the 90’s. The location of these mills raises pertinent questions. In Punjab, there are more mills around Rawalpindi-Islamabad than Lahore - a much larger city. Similarly, mills in Southern Punjab are concentrated more on the border with the Indian Rajhastan. These mills were not set up to cater to the need of the local population that could have been served with one fourth of their production capacity.
It was reported in 1999 that there were 30 flour mills in Islamabad while it needed only four on the basis of its population at that time. The government then prohibited setting up more flour mills all over the country as the situation in other provinces was similar to that of Punjab. The excess flour produced was some how being smuggled and the supply of wheat to the local population was kept under pressure.
It is a well known fact that average wheat consumption in Pakistan is lower than 318 grams as calculated by the FAO. It amounts to 115 kg per person per annum and provides 45 per cent daily calories to an average citizen. Experts, however, point out that the use of rice particularly in the thickly populated Central Punjab is substantial and contributes to reduction in wheat requirement. Even if FAO statistics are accepted, Pakistan should still be a wheat surplus country. That leaves 2-2.2 million tonne surplus every year. Sadly Pakistan has to import wheat to meet local demand due to the menace of smuggling.
It is essential that the government keeps pursuing its strict policy on wheat movement. There is a dire need to plug smuggling routes and unearth hoarded stocks.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
