Centre to assess Sindh’s wheat stocks to ascertain import needs

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Federal Minister for National Food Security Tariq Bashir Cheema held a meeting at the CM House on Monday to discuss the available wheat stock, the new crop harvested and further requirements in those regards so that the necessary support can be assured in time.

The chief executive welcomed the federal minister in the province and thanked him for his timely intervention to assess the wheat stocks and the production of new crops so that the necessary measures can be taken to meet the shortfalls.

Cheema said the federal government has decided to assess the wheat stocks in the province so that the shortage can be assessed for importing wheat well in time.

Shah said the wheat production target of the province is 3.8 million metric tonnes (MMT) against the requirement of 4.7 MMT. He added that the shortfall of 0.9 MMT is met by purchasing wheat from Punjab or from the Pakistan Agricultural Storage & Services Corporation (Passco). “Our shortfall is usually met by the private sector.”

He said the provincial government has set a procurement target of 1.4 MMT against the support price of Rs5,500 per 100 kilograms. “We’re purchasing wheat from the growers so that a comparatively better price benefit can be passed on to them.”

Sindh Food Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla said that there are higher prices of wheat in the open market. He said that open market prices as of May 5 have been recorded at Rs6,000 in Karachi, Rs5,700 in Hyderabad, Rs5,850 in Mirpurkhas, Rs5,800 in Shaheed Benazirabad and Rs5,700 in Larkana.

Food Secretary Raja Khurram Shahzad said the provincial government is planning to purchase 250,000 MT from Passco, adding that it might also purchase wheat from Punjab.

The federal minister urged the provincial government to calculate its wheat stocks and let the Centre know how much more wheat is needed so that keeping in view the requirement of all the provinces, the import order can be placed in time.

Cheema said that as an agricultural country, Pakistan must take drastic measures to ensure its food security. On this the CM said that due to water shortages, they cannot bring more land under cultivation, but they can increase their yield by using the latest technologies.

The federal minister agreed to the CM’s proposal, saying that the federal and provincial agriculture authorities should sit together to draw up proposals for new cultivation methods to multiply the yield per acre in the country.

In his concluding remarks the CM urged the federal minister to offer better prices to the local growers instead of giving better prices to the growers or traders of other countries, from where Pakistan wants to import wheat.

The meeting was also attended by Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, Food Security Commissioner Imtiaz Ali Gopang, Special Secretary to the CM Rahim Shaikh and others.