Pakistan sets wheat production target of record 26m tonnes

The Federal Committee on Agriculture on Tuesday set a record wheat production target of 26 million tonnes for the next year, against the country’s main staple food’s annual requirements of 25 million tonnes.

Announcing decisions of the committee, the Minister for Food Security and Research, Sikandar Hayat Bosan, said that the wheat production target was set at a realistic limit, as the country had achieved a bumper wheat harvest of 25.4 million tonnes this year.

Bosan said the subsidy on urea did wonders for the Kharif crops as production of sugarcane crop was estimated to be 71.8 million tonnes while that of rice was expected to increase to 7.5 million tonnes this year. Similar increase in maize, moong and mash pulses was estimated by the committee.

When asked whether the production target would be achieved without announcement of the support price (official procurement price), he said that it would be achieved, with or without a support price, as the government had taken measures to reduce the cost of production. He said that the country would still have a wheat surplus of 3 million tons at the start of next year’s harvest.

He said the Rabi season would start with an estimated 16 percent water shortage but the situation would improve following rainfall in the winter season. However, the Met Office has predicted rainfall for only Northern Punjab on November 7; after that rainfall would only commence in February period.

The minister said that the committee decided to restructure the agriculture research system in the country and a committee was setup to finalise recommendations. He said it was also decided to launch a national program to increase the production of pulses in the country.