Recent wheat price fixation will support farmers: minister

ISLAMABAD: The federal minister for National Food Security and Research (NFSR), Rana Tanveer Hussain, called the recent fixation of wheat prices a balanced approach aimed at supporting farmers and boosting domestic production.

While talking to a private TV channel, he stressed that Pakistan, as an agriculture-based economy, needed to provide adequate support to its farming community.

The minister expressed optimism that farmers would respond positively to the support price by increasing wheat cultivation and investing in agricultural inputs, potentially helping the country move towards a surplus in the next season.

He reiterated that the government had fixed the wheat support price at Rs 4,500 per 40 kilograms to support farmers, encourage wheat cultivation and maintain price stability.

He said all stakeholders endorsed the current fixation of price as farmers had faced mounting production costs over the past two years, including higher electricity tariffs, fertiliser prices, seed costs and other agricultural inputs.

Rana Tanveer has directed provincial administrations to strengthen monitoring and take administrative steps to ensure price stability and the availability of wheat in the market.

The representative also highlighted shortcomings in the country’s agricultural data collection system, saying discrepancies among different sources had complicated decisions on imports, exports and domestic supply.

The prime minister, he said, was focusing on developing a more reliable, technology-based and credible mechanism for collecting agricultural data to ensure that future policy decisions were based on accurate information.

He added that crop zoning, production targets and advance planning were essential to maintaining food security, preventing shortages and ensuring that farmers received appropriate incentives.

The government, he concluded, would seek to improve agricultural planning and data accuracy so that future decisions on wheat and other major crops could better protect farmers, consumers and the national economy.