Circular crisis

Wheat is an important part of the diet of Pakistanis and we luckily have fertile lands and better yields when it comes to wheat than other crops. And yet, we still face wheat shortages and are forced to import wheat every year. Every year, this results in controversy. Either we import too much or export too much wheat and the price falls too low or climbs too high, respectively. Common sense would be to help improve local production and avoid wheat imports and hopefully become a wheat exporting country. And yet, every year we end up with a wheat crisis. When will the government learn to fix their previous mistakes? When will government officials plan for the long term? When will policy for wheat storage and export to Afghanistan be developed to end wheat smuggling? When will the government implement a policy to buy all the wheat produced and export the excess stocks at profit? When will the reports of inquiry commissions and the lessons learnt by all previous inquiries announced by the government be released?

Engr Shahryar Khan Baseer

Islamabad