Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture Nazar Mohammad Gondal has said that two million tonnes wheat can be exported, as sufficient stock of the commodity is available in the country. The minister told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Food and Agriculture that the matter of disposing of 0.95 million tons surplus wheat would be discussed in the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
He said that any decision on wheat export would be taken by the Cabinet to be chaired by the Prime Minister Syed Yosuaf Raza Gilani. Secretary Minfa Ziaur Rehman said that the strategic reserves of the wheat have been preserved and the provinces and Azad Kashmir have been asked in writing to lift their quota from the Pasco go-downs. About sugar, the minister said that in his opinion the country had sufficient stock of sugar but the mill owners have been exploiting the situation by not releasing the stock.
He said that even if the government had allowed import of raw sugar the millers would have increased sugar price. The minister said that the government had received a request from sugar millers for import of raw sugar but at the same day the price of sugarcane in the country declined.
Gondal said that the paddy crop was encouraging in Sindh and the government would make all possible efforts to keep the price of rice stable. He said that the plan is to purchase 1 lakh tons rice from the growers. The minister wanted the Committee to suggest a strategy to ensure smooth supply of fertiliser to the farmers.
Secretary Minfa giving briefing to the Committee about BT cotton crops said that almost everything was finalised with US company Monesteno for introducing new variety of Bt cotton seeds that would help increase cotton production in the country. Standing Committee expressed its concern that a large quantity of wheat purchased recently could go waste in the absence of proper storage and criticised sugar millers for exploiting the situation to mint money.
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