About 430,000 tons of wheat arrives

[ghazi52]

About 430,000 tons of wheat arrives


Minister cites outdated seed technology as key factor behind low crop yield


APP
September 30, 2020

PHOTO: REUTERS


ISLAMABAD: Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam on Tuesday said around 430,000 tons of imported wheat had arrived and the rest would reach Pakistan soon to meet shortfall of the commodity.

He informed the National Assembly Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research that this year the country was short of the target by 1.5 million tons of wheat and to meet the shortfall, the government allowed private entities to import wheat. During the meeting held at the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) under the chairmanship of Rao Muhammad Ajmal, the committee was briefed about the current wheat and cotton position in the country.

Imam said the major factor behind the low output of crops was the outdated seed technology. The minister apprised the committee that climate change had damaged agricultural production this year.

He said Punjab and Sindh were the most affected provinces due to the recent rains, which were also a reason that targets of some crops could not be achieved. The committee gave directives that the ministry should ensure the availability of quality hybrid seeds of cotton in markets to enhance its per acre yield.

It stressed that the ministry should announce support price of wheat to encourage growers, and avoid unnecessary delay in the sowing of cotton. Imam said the federal government was in constant contact with provinces to fix the minimum support price of wheat for the upcoming season.

Meanwhile, the committee unanimously recommended that the Chamber of Agriculture Bill 2019 (a private member bill) should be passed.

The committee emphasised that the agriculture sector was the backbone of country but unfortunately successive governments failed to pay due attention to it, consequently the condition of growers deteriorated due to mismanagement and lack of coordination between the federal and provincial governments.


Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2020.

 

[KurtisBrian]

Wonder what nation the wheat was grown in

I wonder because when cars, oil, consumer electronics, clothes, some fruits, tea, coffee, meat.... are purchased we usually know the producing nation or company. People can feel some gratitude or perhaps connection with that place and people. These huge bulk purchases are nameless so that chance of feeling a connection is lost. Sad.

 

[blueazure]

total incompetence, mismanagement

surplus wheat /bumper crop was all exported in 2019( PTI in govt) and now we have to import

Will someone pl educate me how much we spent ( loss) on this ?


@volatile @ghazi52 @ziaulislam

 

[Maarkhoor]

We have donated 44000 ton to Afghanistan,


I wonder what happened now?

We need this huge import or just done by minister to earn millions of USD....Since I knew 1000 of tons stored wheat is available on Sindh and Punjab....

 

[volatile]

total incompetence, mismanagement

surplus wheat /bumper crop was all exported in 2019( PTI in govt) and now we have to import

Will someone pl educate me how much we spent ( loss) on this ?


@volatile @ghazi52 @ziaulislam

just one comment check the name of parties who are importing and exporting .Also we dont have bumper crops we had almost 50% less crops in 2019

 

[Paul2]

I heard that Pakistan has very good agricultural soils in Punjab, and Indus river valley. So good that "even stick grow." And the next thing I heard was it being its a curse on itself.

Most of people with land will put it to sugarcane, and cotton, with very few rice, or cereal growers.

 

[313ghazi]

I heard that Pakistan has very good agricultural soils in Punjab, and Indus river valley. So good that "even stick grow." And the next thing I heard was it being its a curse on itself.

Most of people with land will put it to sugarcane, and cotton, with very few rice, or cereal growers.

Pakistani crops are hoarded by feudal lords to create artificial shortages and drive up domestic prices. They are also smuggled into Iran and Afghanistan. Feudal lords and their families occupy most of the positions of power in our country.

Also majority of arable land is owned by feudal lords. Such land is cultivated in old manual methods as they have no shortage of unemployed people these people can effectively force into bonded labour. They work but get paid in crops, temporary housing, political patronage etc. This is done deliberately as the bonded labour and their extended families then rely on the fuedal lord to survive and will vote for even a donkey if the fuedal lord tells them too.

 

[KurtisBrian]

re USDA, Wheat flour currently contributes 72 percent (fao says 37% way different) of Pakistan’s daily caloric intake with per capita wheat consumption of around 124 kg per year, one of the highest in the world.
MY 2019/20 consumption is forecast at 25.4 million metric tons.

but 124 kg x 220 million people / 1000 kg = 27,280,000 tonnes of wheat consumed by Pakistanis

2020 targeted wheat production was 27 million a record but Pakistan produces on average 20-24 million tonnes....in recent years has been 22-26 million tonnes/yr (fao.org)
Also I bet you don't have enough storage capacity. (India doesn't so tried using plastic bags..think most of it rotted.)
Pakistan likely markets the excess wheat when it comes in enmasse from the farms then buys back what was sold plus any shortfalls at a later date. That is just a guess.

https://apps.fas.usda.gov/newgainapi/api/report/downloadreportbyfilename?filename=Grain%20and%20Feed%20Annual_Islamabad_Pakistan_4-3-2017.pdf

http://www.fao.org/3/i3251e/i3251e.pdf

 

[ziaulislam]

total incompetence, mismanagement

surplus wheat /bumper crop was all exported in 2019( PTI in govt) and now we have to import

Will someone pl educate me how much we spent ( loss) on this ?


@volatile @ghazi52 @ziaulislam

Actually wrong in one way
Our production went down because of devaluation people think wheat isnt worth it...

My village has switched to peanut this yr..

Govt has ti either increase support price or force millers to buy it before u expect a switch back

But agree so far performance has been pretty much same as before when it comes to agriculture

 

[Marker]

About 430,000 tons of wheat arrives
Minister cites outdated seed technology as key factor behind low crop yield

ISLAMABAD: Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam on Tuesday said around 430,000 tons of imported wheat had arrived and the rest would reach Pakistan soon to meet shortfall of the commodity.

He informed the National Assembly Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research that this year the country was short of the target by 1.5 million tons of wheat and to meet the shortfall, the government allowed private entities to import wheat. During the meeting held at the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) under the chairmanship of Rao Muhammad Ajmal, the committee was briefed about the current wheat and cotton position in the country.

Imam said the major factor behind the low output of crops was the outdated seed technology. The minister apprised the committee that climate change had damaged agricultural production this year.

He said Punjab and Sindh were the most affected provinces due to the recent rains, which were also a reason that targets of some crops could not be achieved. The committee gave directives that the ministry should ensure the availability of quality hybrid seeds of cotton in markets to enhance its per acre yield.

It stressed that the ministry should announce support price of wheat to encourage growers, and avoid unnecessary delay in the sowing of cotton. Imam said the federal government was in constant contact with provinces to fix the minimum support price of wheat for the upcoming season.

Meanwhile, the committee unanimously recommended that the Chamber of Agriculture Bill 2019 (a private member bill) should be passed.

The committee emphasised that the agriculture sector was the backbone of country but unfortunately successive governments failed to pay due attention to it, consequently the condition of growers deteriorated due to mismanagement and lack of coordination between the federal and provincial governments.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2020.

For the year 2020 total estimated domestic consumption of wheat is 25.5 million MT and estimated total production is 26.1 million MT.
https://www.indexmundi.com/agriculture/?country=pk&commodity=wheat&graph=domestic-consumption
https://www.indexmundi.com/agriculture/?country=pk&commodity=wheat&graph=production
Wheat import of 430,000 tons is to meet shortfall occurred due to recent rains in Punjab and Sindh.

Estimated wheat export for year 2020 is 300,000 MT and import is 100,000 MT.

Comparing wheat export stat data for last four years shows declining trend, whereas import stat data shows sudden rise in year 2020. Why?

Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam is blaming outdated seed technology as key factor behind low crop yield.

Interestingly the wheat production stats reveal rise in production in 2020!!!

By the way, where is the surplus stored stock of wheat?

Why there is a sudden declining trend in production of wheat since 2017?

 

[I S I]

must be because of tiddi dal attack.