Senate panel seeks wheat policy

The Senate Standing Committee on National Food Security on Tuesday called for formulating that a ‘wheat policy’ in the country in consultation with all stakeholders as the shortfall in the production this year reached 1.411million tonnes.

A meeting of the committee, chaired by Senator Muzafar Hussain Shah, discussion was held on the wheat and cotton losses sustained due to natural calamities. The participants also deliberated on the issues related to locust attacks and the risks faced by the Pakistani agricultural exports.

The meeting was attended by senators Najma Hameed, Sajjad Turi, Seemee Ezdi, Hafiz Abdul Karim, Prof Sajid Mir, Muhammad Ali Shah Jamote, Gul Bashra and Usman Khan Kakar and senior officers from the national food security ministry and the related institutions.

While discussing the wheat target for 2019-20, the committee was informed that net shortfall for wheat was 1.411 million tonnes. The reasons for the shortfall included erratic weather conditions, hindrance by provincial government, hoarding, smuggling and price hike in local and global markets.

The committee chairman was of the view that a list of recommendations had been handed over to the ministry earlier. He stressed that an implementation report on the recommendation must be submitted in the next meeting.