Expanding wings: Food ministry demands control of crops wing, NFDC

Insists these depts are more related to food and research areas


Peer Muhammad January 22, 2016
Insists these depts are more related to food and research areas. PHOTO: INP/FILE

ISLAMABAD: After the cotton wing, the Ministry of National Food Security and Research has sought control of two other departments from the Planning Commission including the National Fertilizer Development Centre (NFDC) and the crops wing reasoning that both are directly linked to food and research areas.

Talking to The Express Tribune, a senior ministry officer said the ministry had already prepared summaries and sought comments of relevant departments in a bid to achieve better coordination.

These departments are directly related to the food security ministry, which often faces trouble in policy issues due to lack of coordination and as a result its performance is affected.

The officer said the prime minister, on recommendation of the minister of food security, had issued directives for handing over control of NFDC and the crops wing to the food security ministry so that it could improve its performance and tackle challenges in a better way.

After transfer of the ministry of food and agriculture to provinces under the 18th Constitution Amendment, the crops wing was given under the control of the Planning Commission.

The wing had been looking after the policy and administrative matters pertaining to all major and minor crops, but as of late, production of some crops has been affected, posing food security challenges to the country.

“We want to reactivate the crops wing under a senior officer in order to deal with food and agricultural matters in a professional and scientific way, which had not been the case since the devolution of the agricultural ministry,” said the officer.

Apart from this, the officer said, NFDC was also directly related to the food security ministry and had nothing to do with the Planning Commission. “This is the reason why we want to take control of this department to develop better liaison over internal issues,” the officer added.

NFDC is a multidisciplinary research and development organisation that works on planning, pricing and subsidies, deregulation, production and imports, marketing and credit, agronomy and soil sciences, research and training.

In association with the federal and provincial institutions, NFDC studies all fertiliser-related problems from its production to its supply to farmers in a bid to help frame and implement government policies.

The Ministry of National Food Security has already prepared a summary for taking back control of the cotton department from the Ministry of Textile Industry.

This was also done on the directives of the prime minister keeping in view the sharp fall of about 35% in cotton production this season.

However, the textile ministry has objected to the proposal, arguing since 90% of cotton is consumed by the domestic textile industry, the cotton department should not be handed over to the food security ministry. It has held weather conditions responsible for the decline in cotton output.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23rd, 2016.

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