Punjab Minister for Agriculture Malik Ahmed Ali Aulakh has said that support price of wheat would not be increased for next season and the government has fixed wheat procurement target at 6.5 million tonnes for the year 2011 and measures would be taken to ensure the support price at Rs 950 per 40 kilograms to the farmers.
Talking to newsmen here today on way to Layyah, the Agriculture Minister said "There will be no ban on the export of wheat during the procurement season. Procurement will be totally on merit and the procurement target could be revised, as we would be closely monitoring it.
A total of one million tonnes of strategic reserves will be maintained in the public sector. Storage capacity of wheat was being increased in Punjab before the harvest of wheat this year," He said that we would procure 3.5 million tones while PASSCO 1.3 million tones wheat this year. The strategic reserves of one million tonne will be kept in all provinces and PASSCO according to their due share.
Aulakh said the government was committed to safeguard the interests of the farmers whose efforts have caused a paradigm shift and the country is enabled to export the surplus wheat this year. The Minister said that Punjab expects to produce 16.5 million tonnes because 98 percent of targeted area was brought under wheat crop. However total production of 23 million tonnes is expected in the country this year. "We would make sure that the positive trend of bumper production continues in the future also. We can turnaround our economy if we keep on promoting the agriculture sector, and we are determined to do that at all cost," said the minister.
The Minister reiterated that there was neither food security problem in Pakistan nor could it occur in the near future. The minister totally rejected the rumours of food problems in the country. The actual fact and figures revealed that the country was self-sufficient in all food items. The country has abundant stocks of wheat, rice, potatoes, fresh-milk and even sugar, he maintained.