No decision as yet if Center or provinces to import wheat

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain said on Monday that no decision has yet been made on whether the federal government or the provincial governments will import one million tonnes of wheat. The imported wheat will cost between Rs 4, 200 and Rs 4, 300 per maund, said the minister while briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research, which met here on Monday under the chairmanship of MNA Syed Tariq Hussain. READ ALSO: Wheat worth Rs330bn imported in 7 months Hussain further told the committee that the federal government wanted the provinces themselves to import the wheat, while the Centre grants permission. The minister said that farmers would bear the burden of soaring fertiliser costs after being given a reasonable support price of wheat. Wheat will become surplus if the wheat support price was fixed at 4, 500 per maund, he said. MNA Rana Hayat Khan said that in our country, the government spends billions of rupees on the import of wheat but does not purchase it from local growers. If sufficient stock of wheat is available in the country, then the wheat should be imported, he said. The minister said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif supports a wheat support price. He said that the Sindh government procured wheat directly, while Punjab adopted a public-private partnership model for procurement of wheat, purchased at Rs3, 200 per maund, he said. Hussain said that he had written letters to the provinces; if there is a wheat shortage, then procurement should be raised to Rs3, 800 per maund, but no province had replied. The minister further said that with respect to the import of wheat, his ministry has sought information from all provinces about the wheat reserves. “Following release of wheat for Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), the federal government still have one million tons of wheat in stock. We have moved a summary to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) for import of one million tons of wheat, ” he said, adding that a steering committee has been set up regarding import of wheat. The committee also discussed the matter related to the exclusion of the joint project of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) and Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, for the establishment of the Dates Research Centre at Khairpur from the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2026–27. The officials of the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives while briefing the committee regarding the matter said that due to fiscal space constraints, the Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFS&R) had prioritised only three new development schemes for inclusion in the PSDP 2026–27 as a result, several proposed projects, including the Dates Research Centre, could not be accommodated despite their importance. The chairman said that Pakistan is among the leading producers of dates and emphasised that the proposed research centre would play a significant role in promoting scientific research, improving date production, developing disease-resistant varieties, enhancing value addition, and strengthening export potential. The committee directed the MNFS&R to take up the matter with the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives and seek reconsideration of the project. The parliament body also decided to seek a meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss the establishment of the Dates Research Centre at Khairpur through a joint venture between the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) and Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur. It also reviewed the implementation status of its previous recommendations concerning the regulation of artificial sweeteners and flavoured drinks. The Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) briefed the meeting on the steps taken to revise the existing regulatory framework in light of the Committee’s earlier directions. Expressing concern over the slow pace of implementation of its earlier recommendations, the Committee directed the PSQCA to convene a meeting of its Technical Committee in Islamabad at the earliest. The meeting shall be attended by three Members of the Standing Committee, representatives of the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), representatives of mango growers, and other relevant stakeholders to ensure comprehensive deliberation on the matter. MNAs Waseem Qadir, Rana Muhammad Hayat Khan, Nadeem Abbas, Abdul Qadir Khan, Musarrat Asif Khawaja, Nazir Ahmed Bhugio, Syed Javed Ali Shah Jillani, Syed Abrar Ali Shah and senior officials also attended the meeting. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

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