Country no more self-sufficient in wheat, NA told.

Byline: Amin Ahmed

ISLAMABAD -- Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhr Imam informed the National Assembly on Thursday that Pakistan was no longer self-sufficient in wheat as the per acre yield had declined.

He said that 25 million tons of wheat was produced this year against the target of 27m tons and to ensure that there was no shortage of the commodity and to keep its price stable, the government had allowed the private sector to import wheat.

The minister said the production of cotton, maize and sugarcane had also declined. The government, he said, would take measures to increase the per acre yield of wheat, sugarcane and cotton. A virus had damaged the cotton crop whose production declined to 7.3m tons from 15m tons, he added.

Mr Imam said assistance would be sought from Chinese scientists and experts to overcome the difficulties in cotton production under the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Committee set up to look after the issues pertaining to wheat import

Wheat import

Meanwhile, the ministry of national food security has constituted a monitoring committee to look after the issues pertaining to the import of wheat.

The five-member committee set up in pursuance of a decision of the Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet is headed by an additional secretary of the ministry and also includes representative of wheat importers association.

The committee will evaluate the process of import permit issuance and will monitor the quantity of wheat imported into the country, and streamline the task of import of wheat and will coordinate among stakeholders like the ministry of commerce, the Federal Board of Revenue and the State Bank of Pakistan.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has informed the Pakistan Agricultural Services and Storage Corporation (Passco) that it has decided to lift 100,000 metric tons of wheat as per the agreement signed a few days ago, and it issued directives on Thursday to start lifting the entire agreed quantity of wheat within next two to three days from designated Passco...

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