Path to food security

It is ironic that despite reaping an all-time high wheat output of 28.75 million tonnes, Pakistan is compelled to import the staple grain — more than half-a-million tons currently. The yield was two million tonnes more than the target. At a cost of $377 per metric ton, the country will have to dole out millions of its hard-earned foreign exchange for a deal which could have been avoided with more stringent management and a better planned harvesting decorum. This is not the first time that Pakistan — an agricultural country in essence — is importing grains. Import of rice, wheat, sugar, lentils, and even urea, has been part of its flawed food security policy — something that not only exposes the country to vulnerability in terms of self-reliance but also browbeats the masses into irresistibly facing inflation.

The bumper crop this year was possible owing to a number of factors such as an increase in area of cultivation by 3.25%, favourable weather without locust attack, government’s increase in minimum support price to farmers, as well as a better choice of seed and, of course, intensive labour. Grains make up around 60% of daily diet requirements. Pakistan with more than 220 million mouths to feed is in need of 125 kg per capita per annum of wheat; and at the same time adds around five million more people to its grain basket annually. This necessitates a strategic food security policy, which unfortunately Pakistan has not been able to devise yet.

The Federal Committee on Agriculture estimates that around 30 million tonnes of wheat flour is needed annually to remain self-reliant. But there are some inherent drawbacks too as more than a million tonnes go into seed usage and another million or two to retain strategic reserves, coupled with more than 1.5 million Afghan refugees to feed and an unending smuggling of around 400,000 tonnes of wheat to our western neighbour. This renders the country in a precarious situation in terms of food security. Last but not least, to further compound the reserves are hoarders and bureaucratic bottlenecks, which rob the nation of its required nourishment.

So what is the way out? The logical answer is more yield per acre. But that should not come at the cost of the area under sugarcane and cotton, other cash crops of Pakistan. On this count too, our policy-makers have failed by becoming a costlier importer of the sweetener, edible oil and legume-pulses. This is why this year the nation had to be burdened with an increase in wheat flour price by 19%, ghee by 53%, sugar by 25%, in addition to a flawed taxation and distribution policy, crippling the purchasing power of the common man, in particular. Sadly enough, Pakistan is also home to more than 30 million under-nourished souls.

It’s high time for the policymakers to re-orient their food security strategy by using the best of fertiliser, educating the farmers, and planting genetic seed varieties. Luckily enough, the AARI has developed seeds that could yield nine tonnes per hectare, surpassing the potential of India and China — countries that are the best in the region. The road to self-reliance goes through technology and transparency.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2021.

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