Wheat policy okayed, procurement price fixed at Rs3,500/40kg

ISLAMABAD: The federal government Sunday approved the Wheat Policy 2025-26, fixing the commodity’s procurement rate at Rs3,500 per 40 kilogramme.

The policy approval came during a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif here.

The new policy is aligned with the international wheat import prices. Under the policy, the farmers will get a fair price and the government will procure strategic reserves to ensure stable stocks.

There would be no restrictions on the inter-provincial movement of wheat, ensuring its availability nationwide. It was further shared that the federal minister for national food security will chair a national committee responsible for overseeing wheat monitoring. The committee will include representatives from all the provinces and will supervise the implementation and coordination of policy measures.

It will convene weekly and report directly to the prime minister. The chief ministers of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and Gilgit-Baltistan, a representative of KP chief minister, prime minister of Azad Kashmir, and other relevant stakeholders attended the meeting.

The policy would help the agriculture sector grow, increase farmers income, and ensure food security.

Shehbaz said the federal government consulted all stakeholders, including the provincial governments, farmers bodies, industrialists and growers.

He said the government was aware of problems of farmers and was endeavoring to resolve the same.

APP adds: Interior Minister Mohsin Raza Naqvi called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in Lahore on Sunday.

During the meeting, the minister briefed the premier on country’s law and order situation.

The prime minister was also briefed on development projects in Islamabad.INP adds: In a related development, Sindh Agriculture Minister Muhammad Bux Khan Mahar has urged the federal government to immediately announce the wheat support price, citing mounting pressure on farmers amid ongoing pricing uncertainty.

In a statement, the minister said under the current IMF conditions, the provincial governments could not independently fix the wheat support prices without approval from the federal government. As a result, the delay in setting a minimum support price was causing serious financial distress for the growers, he added.

Mahar called on the federal government to set the wheat support price at a minimum of Rs4,200 per 40 kilogram, stressing that this measure was essential to ensure the farmers’ economic stability.

He warned that if the growers did not receive a fair price, they might abandon wheat cultivation and switch to more profitable crops — a move that could potentially trigger a nationwide food crisis.

The Central Executive Committee (CEC) of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has also demanded that the federal government announce a minimum support price for wheat without further delay.

Meanwhile, the Sindh government has rolled out a Rs56 billion Wheat Cultivation Support Programme under which farmers will receive a subsidy of Rs24,700 per acre for purchase of urea and DAP fertilizers.

The minister clarified that this subsidy will benefit 411,000 farmers owning between one and twenty-five acres of land. So far, 132,601 farmers have registered under the programme, he added.