The public sector wheat procurement drive, which will start in April, would require approximately Rs 155 billion to buy 6.5 million tons this year. Officials in Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MinFA) told Business Recorder the Punjab government would require Rs 85 billion to purchase 3.5 million tons of wheat, Pakistan Agriculture Services and Storage Corporation (Passco) and Sindh government would require Rs 30.8 billion to purchase 1.3 million tons of wheat.
Officials added that the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) would require nearly Rs 10 billion to procure 0.4 million tons, while Baluchistan will procure 70,000 ton wheat this year and would require Rs 1.66 billion. The public sector organisations including Punjab Food Department, Passco, Sindh Food Department and KPK Food Department last year spent nearly Rs 180 billion on the purchase of 7.5 million tons of wheat, out of which 4 million tons was procured by Punjab, 1.5 million tons by Sindh, 1.5 million tons by Passco, 0.3 million tons by KPK and around 80,000 tons by Balochistan.
The government has set wheat production target for the ongoing year at 25 million tons, but agriculturists are of the view that this year Pakistan would produce about 23.5 million tons as growers in some parts of Punjab and Sindh were unable to timely cultivate the crop due to flood damages.
This year Sindh government has set wheat production target of 3.7 million tons, while Punjab expects to produce 16.5 million tons this year. According to officials estimates Pakistan's total domestic wheat requirement is about 21.70 million tons to feed a population of about 175 million @ 124 kg per capita/annum.
Currently Pakistan is facing severe problems due to ever increasing commodity-debt which has touched Rs 382 billion. Officials said that last year public sector wheat procurement had crossed 7.5 million tons, of which about 4 million tons was procured by Punjab, 1.5 million tons by Sindh, and 1.2 million tons by Pakistan Agriculture Services and Storage Corporation (Passco).
"Of the total Rs 382 billion commodity debt, the wheat debt alone stands at around Rs 300 billion, and the cost of debt makes it unaffordable for the state to pay back Rs 125 million per day ie Rs 3.75 billion a month, and Rs 45 billion a year," sources said. Chairman AgriForum Pakistan, Ibrahim Mughal commenting on the public sector wheat procurement drive said that the government should allow wheat exporters to directly purchase wheat from growers, saying that it will help farmers to receive better price for their produce.
He said that the government should enhance public sector wheat procurement target from 6.5 million tons to 7.5 million tons. Mughal was of the view this year wheat production in Pakistan would be around 24 million tons out of which farmers would retain over 9 million tons for their consumption and around 7 million tons would be purchased by the private sector. He said that the government should export huge quantity of wheat as Pakistan has sufficient stocks and global wheat price was much higher due to floods in Australia and losses to wheat crop in European countries.
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