KARACHI: Pakistan Businesses Forum (PBF) vice president Ahmad Jawad has said economic managers in Pakistan need to come up with a unified agriculture policy to tackle the cost of inputs as well as the burden on the national exchequer when it comes to importing important produce like wheat flour, sugar and cotton.

“Presently, the common people are compelled to buy wheat flour at Rs70-75/kg, and the federal and provincial authorities seem to be on different pages when it comes to a unified price acceptable for consumers and producers alike,” he said.

He noted that three different prices for purchasing wheat have been set which would create a great confusion among wheat growers, as wheat prices may be set by the centre in a uniform way. For the coming wheat crop the procurement price set by the federal government is Rs1,650/maund; Punjab government has set Rs1,800/maund while the Sindh government has set the price at Rs2,000/maund.

To avoid a crisis-like situation that struck the market last year, growers demand of the government to design a comprehensive plan for wheat procurement and that too in a timely fashion.

Jawad believed that the consumers did not have a choice and might stay vulnerable in terms of unaffordable food products.

Other issues that needed government’s attention were water availability at the right time. Farmers in some areas have observed that they received water late, i.e. after the annual rotation period, which harmed the crop at maturing stage.

Wheat crop that was sowed late had experienced heat in February in some areas of Sindh, which might also affect the overall yield of the staple grain in the country.

Ahmad Jawad said that reports gathered from different areas showed that increasing prices of chemical inputs and diesel had impacted the price of cultivation. Prices of inputs had multiplied, raising the cost of farming.

“Wheat policy should be drafted in consultation with the flour mills,” he said.

He demanded of the government to increase the quota of the area facing wheat shortage and lift embargo on purchase of wheat and ensure equal distribution of wheat.

The Pakistan Flour Mills Association needed to clear its perception too as officials in the Punjab government had claimed that there were only eight key players in the flour mills association who were controlling the wheat/ flour market, he said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021