Country saves $129m in pulses import

The Ministry of National Food Security and Research (NFSR) has said that during 2020 Pakistan has saved $129 million through import substitution by producing more pulses (moong and gram) as compared to last year.

The country produced additional 76,000 tons and 53,000 tons of moong and gram pulse respectively as compared to last year, as confirmed by provincial crop reporting departments in a meeting of the Federal Committee on Agriculture.

During the year, a record high production of rice was reported, which stood at 8.18 million tons from an area of 3.3 million hectares, showing an increase of 10.39%.

It is estimated that the export of rice will also increase with rise of 780,000 tons in production as compared to the previous year. The production of sugarcane increased by 13.96% as compared to last year, the ministry said.

Next year, it is assumed, Pakistan will go for sugar exports rather than importing the commodity. Maize production was also satisfactory and it would also provide surplus for export with the fulfillment of domestic requirement at reasonable prices.

During the meeting, it was informed that the climate was expected to remain in favour of agro-economy and with the prime minister’s agricultural package, the ministry was planting seeds of new agro-economy and would fix the wheat harvest target at 27 million tons for next year.