Wheat procurement price likely to be increased

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, which is to be reconstituted, is likely to enhance wheat procurement price to Rs 650 per 40 kg, as farmers in Sindh are reluctant to sell their produce at Rs 510, official sources told Business Recorder.
The procurement price has not only been rejected by the farmers community but also by Foreign Minister Inam-ul-Haque, who had termed it ''cheating with the farmers'' and far below currently being paid in India.
Sources said that the outgoing (caretaker) Prime Minister had convened the ECC meeting for March 24 to discuss Minfal''s proposal regarding enhancement of procurement price but it was cancelled at the eleventh hour. "Minfal says that its wheat procurement plan in Sindh has failed as the farmers are not interested in selling their produce at Rs 510 per 40 kg," sources said.
In Punjab, wheat harvesting season has yet to start, but the current trends indicates that farmers are not willing to sell wheat at the official rate at any cost.
Sources were of the view that if the private sector procured wheat from farmers at higher rate than the official price, the government would not have edge over the private sector to manoeuvre the situation. They said that there would be wheat shortage throughout the world and, with the increase in procurement price and aggressive procurement, the government could save precious foreign exchange.
The outgoing foreign minister, in a letter to the government had said that the government appeared to be unmindful of the international trend of wheat prices and had fixed the procurement price a meagre Rs 510 per 40 kg whereas the price of the commodity in India is equal to Pakistani Rs 700 per 40 kg.
According to global trends, prices of food grains are going up because large tracts of arable land are being used to grow maize for production of bio-fuels and because of global warming and the consequent changing patterns of rainfall and increasing aridity in parts of the world.
During last year alone, the international prices of food grains went by 40 percent, or more, and this trend would continue. Sources said that low price would lead to wheat shortages in the future because the cheap wheat/flour is bound to be smuggled out of the country because of much higher prices in the neighbouring countries.
The low returns could also lead the farmers to reduce the cultivation area for wheat thus creating long-term reduction in the local production of wheat while requirements of Pakistan would continue to spiral upwards because of the increasing population. However, officials hope that with the enhancement of wheat procurement price, farmers would also enhance wheat cultivation area even in the traditional sugarcane areas.