Wheat production target of 25.5 million tonnes missed

Pakistan has missed wheat production target as the country produced 24.12 million tonnes of wheat against the set target of 25.5 million tonnes from an area of 8.833 million hectares during Rabi season 2018-19. Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Sahibzada Muham-mad Sultan said the heavy rains coupled with hailstorms had affected wheat crop in the country and reduced the size of the crop by 1.28 million tonnes as compared to the last year.
"According to provincial government reports, the country produced 24.12 million tonnes of wheat against the set target of 25.5 million tonnes," he said, adding that with the addition of leftover wheat stock of 3.7 million tonnes, the total availability of the grain will be 27.9 million tonnes while total national requirement of the commodity is 25.8 million tonnes. The Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) during its previous meeting held in April fixed wheat crop production target at 25.51 million tonnes from an area of 8.833 million hectares during Rabi 2018-19.
To a question if the government has proposed to increase sales tax on fertilizers from 2 percent to 17 percent, the minister said no such proposal is under consideration. He said Pakistan and China have signed five memorandum of understanding (MoUs) during the visit of Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, of which two are related to agriculture. The MoUs include Framework Agreement on Agricultural Cooperation and Requirements for Foot and Mouth Diseases (FMD) Free Zone, he said, adding these will play a significant role in improvement of agriculture and meat exports.
The minister said currently there is a huge export of meat in the world but unfortunately Pakistan lags far behind. "Pakistan exports meat to Gulf states, Malaysia and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but it cannot expert meat to European countries. Currently Pakistan is on step-II of FMD and country will move to third step after establishment of FMD free zones," he said, adding that government of China will help Pakistan set up FMD free zone in four provinces which will definitely increase meat export. He said framework agreement on agricultural cooperation covers most sectors of agriculture including provision of modern technology, skill development of small farmers, improvement of research departments, introduction of new breeds in livestock and poultry, improvement in fishery sector, value added unit and setting up of processing units in the country.
The minister said previous government has completely ignored the country's agriculture sector and its only focus was on Orange Line Train and Metro Bus projects.
He said the present government in collaboration with the provincial government will spend Rs 286 billion on 13 different projects in the next five years. "Out of the total amount, the federal government will provide Rs 86 billion and the rest of the amount would be managed by provinces with their own resources," he said.