ISLAMABAD: The governments of Bangladesh, Iraq and Iran have expressed their desire to import wheat from Pakistan through government channel, sources told
Daily Times on Wednesday.
Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture Nazar Mohammad Gondal expressed these views while presiding over a meeting to review the wheat procurement and progress in the export of surplus wheat.
The Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) in its meeting on April 12 forecasted 23.87 million tonnes wheat crops in the current year. The government also has about four million tonnes carryover stock of the previous year and thus the total availability of wheat for the current year is 27.87 million tonnes. Total requirement of the country is 21.70 million tonnes at the rate of 124 kilogramme per capita/ annum. More than six million tonnes was surplus and some of it would be kept as strategic reserve and for seed, feed and wastage. In order to avoid any mishap regarding wheat availability in the country, the government had announced to export about two million tonnes of wheat. In the international market the wheat prices have come down and were recorded at about Rs 800 per 40kg but the government purchased wheat at Rs 950 per 40kg. In order to avoid expected loss in exporting wheat at lower prices, the government took initiatives of government-to-government contact particularly with Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The meeting was informed that these countries were willing to import wheat from Pakistan through the government channel. The government has contacted several countries for export of wheat, the sources maintained.
Official statement of the ministry revealed that Gondal informed the meeting that the efforts of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MINFA) and the Ministry of Commerce have yielded encouraging results.
About the procurement of wheat in the current season, Gondal reiterated the government’s resolve to guarantee the announced support price of Rs 950 per 40kg to the farmers. The minister said till Wednesday, the government procured 0.95 million tonnes of wheat so far in Punjab and Sindh by provincial food departments and PASSCO.
However, sources said that the farmers in Sindh and Punjab were getting Rs 800 to Rs 850 per 40kg. As the government has already four million tonnes previous year’s wheat stock, the farmers were facing trouble in getting bags (Bardana).
Sources said that the country has 4.5 million tonnes wheat storage capacity, which was full right now while the procurement of new crop had already initiated in Sindh and Punjab. Due to limited storage capacity, it would be difficult for the government to maintain huge stock of wheat for a longer period. To avoid expected loss to the stored wheat in open areas, it would be better to export wheat as early as possible, the sources maintained. The government fixed wheat procurement target at 7.5 million tonnes for the year 2010 against the initial target of 6.5 million tonnes last year but later procured 9.233 million tonnes.
According to schedule the procurement target for 2010 are Punjab 4 million tonnes against last year’s target of 3.5 million tonnes, Sindh 1.5 million tonnes against last year’s 1.2 million tonnes, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have to procure 0.3 and 0.1 million tonnes, respectively for the coming season. The procurement target for PASSCO has been fixed at 1.6 million tonnes against the last year’s initial target of 1.5 million tonnes. The minister informed the meeting that the decision of the cabinet to export surplus wheat was followed by formal contacts with certain countries with the help of the Ministry of Commerce. MINFA Additional Secretary Shahid Hussain Raja, Wheat Commissioner Dr Shakeel Khan, JS Food Jasmin Masood and PASSCO’s officials attended the meeting.
Source: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\04\22\story_22-4-2010_pg5_1
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