Incentives for Wheat Growers Crucial to Pakistan’s National Food Security - NA Speaker - Android

The Committee Unanimously Passed a Resolution on Relief in Energy Prices for Farmers… Read More

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The National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser stated that meaningful and timely incentives for wheat growers were indispensable to Pakistan’s national food security.

He made these remarks while chairing a meeting of the National Assembly Special Committee on Agricultural Products convened to deliberate upon Minimum Support Price for Wheat, strategy for enhancing the production of wheat and other Rabi crops.

The majority of the Committee members recommended that the minimum support price for wheat should be fixed at Rs.1800/40 kg while members from Sindh recommended Rs. 2000/40 kg. The members highlighted that lack of decent profitability in wheat production would deter farmers from cultivating wheat crops resulting in Pakistan’s national food security crisis.

They also stressed that undue delay in the fertilizer subsidy disbursement mechanism would adversely affect the cumulative output of wheat and the country would be forced to import expensive wheat next year.

The Committee recommended that each province should immediately share its proposed subsidy disbursement mechanism with the Ministry of National Food Security and Research for onward submission to the Ministry of Finance for release of the funds.

The Speaker assured that the matter will be taken up with the Ministry of Finance in the next meeting of the Committee within one week.  On the request of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, the Committee recommended that Punjab Seed Corporation and Government of Sindh should provide wheat seed to KP and Balochistan within one week as per agreement and according to the demand in order to avoid a potential wheat crisis.

The Agriculture Minister of Balochistan stated that given Balochistan’s agricultural landscape, the Federal Government should extend a supportive arm to Balochistan. He regretted that the subsidy on tubewells and funds for the solarization of tubewells, despite announced, were not released.

The Special Committee on Agricultural Products unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Federal government to replicate the relief in energy prices provided to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) Industry within the month of November 2020, so that farmers can take benefit of this relief in the current planting season.

The Committee through its resolution expressed grave concern over the lack of any action taken in pursuance of the Prime Minister’s directions to provide relief to farmers on tubewells across Pakistan.

The Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, and officials from the Ministry and the provincial governments, briefed the panel on the current situation, cost, import, support price and interventions for enhancing wheat production next year.

The Committee would meet next Friday to review the implementation status of its recommendations.

The meeting was attended by the Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam, the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Khusro Bakhtiar, Balochistan Agriculture Minister, Chairman PARC, Secretary Food Punjab, Secretary Agriculture KP, MD PASSCO and members of the Committee.

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