Wheat devolution fuelling agri crisis

Minister says provinces not cooperating on wheat procurement

ISLAMABAD:

Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain on Thursday blamed post-devolution coordination failures between the federation and provinces for worsening problems in the wheat sector.

He told a Senate committee that provincial governments were not cooperating on procurement targets despite mounting challenges facing Pakistan's agricultural economy.

The remarks came during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research, chaired by Senator Syed Masroor Ahsan, where lawmakers debated falling agricultural productivity, weak wheat procurement, climate-related losses and the widening disconnect between Pakistan's agricultural potential and actual output.

"Provinces are not cooperating in the agricultural sector; problems have increased after devolution," Rana Tanveer told the committee, adding that consensus could not be achieved with provinces on wheat procurement targets.

He said the Sindh government had announced plans to procure only 100,000 tonnes of wheat, while broader coordination between federal and provincial authorities remained weak.

According to Rana Tanveer, Pakistan currently spends only 0.02 per cent of its GDP on agricultural research, compared to India's 0.4pc, while agricultural productivity in Pakistan remained significantly lower than in India and China.

Meanwhile, Minister for Law and Justice, Azam Nazeer Tarar rejected claims of a four million-ton wheat shortfall in the country and informed the Senate that sufficient wheat stocks were available to meet domestic needs.

Responding to a point of order raised by Senator Aon Abbas, the minister challenged the opposition to present documented evidence supporting the claim of a major wheat shortage.