ISLAMABAD: The Wheat Review Committee of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research here on Wednesday was informed that surplus wheat stocks of over 28 million tons would be available during the year as against the domestic requirements of 25.84 million tons.
The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Sahibzada Mehboob Sultan to assess the total quantity of the commodity, prices, demand and supply situation across the country, said a press release issue here.
The meeting also reviewed the procurement of wheat, price of the commodity in the local market, loss occurred due to the rains, exports and future strategy to enhance the crop yield.
The meeting was attended by provincial ministers, secretaries, representatives of State Bank of Pakistan, Floor Mills Associations and wheat exporters.
The meeting was informed that for the year 2018-19 all provinces have accumulated quantity of 24.279 million tons and with the addition of leftover stock of 3.721 million tons, the total availability would be remained at 28.00 million tons which is above then the domestic requirement of around 25.84 million tons.
The minister asked the representatives of the provinces to apprise about the current stock situation in their respective provinces and price and quality assessment mechanism of the wheat.
Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Supplies Corporation told the meeting that it had achieved 100pc procurement targets set for current year and could provide wheat for domestic consumption as well as for exports.
Sahibzada Mehboob stressed the need for determining the cause of price variation and upward trend of wheat and put forward concrete solution to discourage any unprecedented volatility in the commodity market.
The meeting was apprised that feed companies were also one of the reasons for apparent price hike and it was needed to make arrangements for more grinding than trading to avoid any possible shortage of the commodity.
The minister directed that the private sector procurement of wheat must be assessed, besides devising price monitoring system, adding that provincial governments keeping in view the price hike and gravity of situation must release wheat from local stocks.
It was also suggested that wheat seed requirement for next sowing season must be assessed, besides devising a proper plan for a steady availability of the quality seed from several public and private sectors sources.
Mehboob Sultan reiterated the government resolve for discouraging any artificial shortage of wheat by hoarding and said that crackdown against the hoarders would be initiated.
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