Wheat shortfall sparks import calls

Concern over a decline in wheat production dominated a meeting of the Wheat Board chaired by Food Security Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain in Islamabad, where stakeholders warned of a shortfall exceeding 3.5 million tonnes and called for imports to avert a potential food crisis.

Representatives of flour mills, traders, the Cereal Association and farmers told the meeting that the country was facing a wheat shortfall and importing at least 2 million tonnes had become essential, adding that there appeared to be no alternative to imports for bridging the supply gap.

The non-official participants said that if the federal government decided to import wheat, the import policy should be fair and applied equally to flour mills and traders. They said granting import permission to only one or two individuals or companies would be unfair.

The meeting was attended by the chief secretaries of all four provinces, federal and provincial secretaries for food and agriculture, and other senior officials.

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary said that the province had only 30,000 tonnes of wheat in stock and had obtained 250,000 tonnes from Passco after requesting the federal government. He added that more than 70% of the province's flour requirements were met by Punjab.

The Sindh chief secretary said that wheat prices were rising because of reduced availability in the province, adding that a crackdown against hoarders had been launched and its results would be assessed.

The Punjab chief secretary said that it was the vision of the chief minister that even if development projects had to be halted, the government would ensure the provision of affordable flour and bread to the public. The Punjab agriculture secretary told the meeting that the province had achieved its wheat production target of 21.9 million tonnes.

Leaders of the Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) said that wheat prices were increasing across the country because of unnecessary restrictions and stringent measures imposed by Punjab.

Rana Tanveer Hussain said that the government had expected to receive credit for fixing the wheat price at Rs3,500, but the market price had now reached Rs4,400. He directed that the next Wheat Board meeting be held after 15 days to review the situation and hold further consultations.

Separately, the Punjab Food Department's selected international aggregator company has written to the department, seeking permission to import wheat to help the provincial government meet its targets.

According to sources, the Food Department will also invite its other aggregators to import wheat to avoid creating the impression that any single aggregator is being favoured.