Pakistan Oilseed Development Board (PODB) has been putting in great effort to ensure that produce of oilseed growers was purchased by solvent industry on attractive prices during last three years.
"Last year before the sowing season (2002-03) a minimum procurement price of Rs 630 per 40 kg was announced for sunflower by All Pakistan Solvent Extractors Association (APSEA)," said Managing Director PODB Abdul Rauf Khan while talking to APP here on Monday.
The actual price paid by them, however was much higher and ranged between Rs 750 to Rs 800 per 40 kg, he said adding, for the current year minimum price announced for sunflower before the sowing season was Rs 670 per 40 kg which was Rs 40 more than the last year.
He said sunflower had been cultivated on a record area of 577,000 acres against target of 400,000 acres fixed for 2003-04, showing 144 percent achievement of target.
That was made possible by participation of the growers and aggressive campaign by PODB.
APSEA, on the advice of PODB had raised the minimum sunflower procurement price to Rs 680 per 40 kg, Rauf Khan said adding, extraction units who were members of the APSEA and located in sunflower growing areas were procuring the sunflower produce from the farmers containing 8 percent moisture and 2 percent inert matter at the minimum rate of Rs 680 per kg 40 kg at factory gate. The payment of the produce was made within 24 hours.
The good co-operation received from APSEA, Govt's tariff policy, edible oil and oilseed prices prevailing in the international market, Co-operation of Provincial Agriculture Departments and seed companies contributed a lot in this regard.
The area of sunflower sowing could have been higher if it was not for world-wide shortage of sowing seed of sunflower. It was in short supply because of storms in sunflower sowing seed growing areas in the US and drought in the Australia.
Local oilseed production is directly related to palm oil prices in the international market. For the last couple of weeks international palm oil prices have collapsed from $590 to $427 per ton.