Pakistan won't import wheat in 2009, sees excess: Reuters

By Amena Bakr

DUBAI, May 17 (Reuters) - Pakistan will not import wheat this year as government incentives to farmers will likely lead to an excess supply of the grain, an official from the ministry of agriculture said on Sunday.

Pakistan, Asia's third-largest wheat producer, hopes to have an excess supply of 2 - 2.5 tonnes of wheat this year compared to last, said Amjad Nazir, the joint secretary at Pakistan's Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

"There will be no need for us to import wheat this year because the ministry has raised the minimum price of wheat for farmers which encouraged them to allocate more land to grow wheat," he told Reuters during a visit to the United Arab Emirates to encourage investment into the sector.

In September, Pakistan raised the price it pays farmers for wheat by 34 percent to 950 rupees ($11.74) per 40 kilograms, in a bid to encourage them to grow more.

The wheat-growing area had increased this year to 9 million hectares from an average of 8.5 million in previous years. On average, Pakistan imports around 2 millon tonnes of wheat every year.

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Passco's wheat procurement target increased: Business Recorder

ZAHID BAIG

LAHORE (May 02 2009): The Federal government has increased wheat procurement target of the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) from earlier 1.5 million tonnes to two million tonnes. Sources in the Corporation told Business Recorder here on Friday that they had received the directives from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MinFA) yesterday.

The government keeping in view the better production and to facilitate the growers to the maximum had directed the Corporation to go for procurement of two million tonnes of grain instead of 1.5 million tonnes. The sources said that the Corporation would need another Rs 15 billion tentatively to meet this new buying target. Regarding the procurement, the sources said that the Corporation till Thursday had procured 9,37,910 metric tons of wheat during the on-going wheat procurement drive.

'We are also expecting procurement of around 85,000 metric tons of wheat today (Friday) as a result of which the Corporation would cross the one million tonnes mark,' sources in the field wing of the Corporation told Business Recorder. Giving the break up of procurement, the sources said that the corporation till yesterday had procured 8,92,000 from the province of Punjab, 30,020 metric tons from Sindh and 14,930 metric tons from Balochistan.

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Over 400,000 ton wheat procured in Pakistan: Pakistan Times

VEHARI: So far almost 403,275 tons wheat has been procured at PASSCO purchase centres against a target of 1.5 million tons, says field general manager Abdul Hameed.

He said that PASSCO was focusing mainly on wheat procurement in Punjab where 235 procurement centres were operational in 15 cities including Minchanabad, Bahawalnagar, Burewala, Mailsi, Kehror Pakka, Pakpattan, Okara, Pindi Bhatian, Hafizabad, Lodhran, Khanpur, Alipur, Jatoi and Gojra.

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Pakistan may export flour on surplus wheat: The News

Friday, February 20, 2009
SINGAPORE: Pakistan will likely produce more wheat from its bumper crop than a government target of 25 million tonnes this year, paving the way for more exports from South Asia which could further dent world prices.

“There is no fear of any shortfall. It should meet our requirement, we should have some surplus,” Muhammad Saeed, chairman of the Trading Corp of Pakistan, told Reuters.

“We are looking into exports. We will do value addition and send wheat flour to Afghanistan. Depending on the market conditions, we may export to the Middle East.”

Pakistan joins India in producing a record crop which may allow wheat exports from South Asia, adding pressure to the already depressed global wheat prices.

India, the world’s second-biggest wheat producer, is expected to export the grain for the first time in six years after a near record harvest of 77.8 million tonnes that is likely to boost stocks.

Wheat prices have dropped 62 per cent to $5.12-ž per bushel since peaking on the global benchmark Chicago Board of Trade in February 2008, pressured by rising global supplies amid an economic slump.

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Wheat output 24m tonnes: The News

By Aftab Maken

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Food and Agriculture has revised down its forecast for wheat production to 23-24 million tonnes this year against earlier estimate of 25 million tonnes.

“Federal Food & Agriculture Minister Nazar Mohammad Gondal in discussions in official meetings has slashed wheat crop estimate from a bumper 25 million tonnes to between 23 and 24 million tonnes,” an official source, who is expert in dealing with commodities particularly wheat, told The News.

Similarly, the food ministry had conveyed to policy-makers that shortage of urea fertiliser, due to issuance of quotas to handpicked workers, would dampen government’s efforts to produce a record wheat crop of 25 million tonnes after timely announcement of minimum guaranteed price, the official said.

The food ministry held a meeting with procurement agencies ie provincial food departments and Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Supplies Corporation, in the federal capital to chalk out the procurement plan and assigned them the target of only 6.5 million tonnes, he added.

“No one is paying heed to the fact that if the private sector remained out of the market, farmers would be compelled to sell the commodity at throwaway prices,” said the official.

“Farmers will be punished again for growing surplus grain for the countrymen and they at the time of procurement will be complaining about government’s inefficiency and it being a mere spectator in the market. Farmers will be running from pillar to post to sell their produce at the announced price,” Rabia Sultan, a progressive farmer and member of Farmers Association of Pakistan (FAP) said.

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Pakistan set to achieve 25 mln-tonne wheat target: Dawn

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is on course to meet a target of 25 million tonnes of wheat in the 2008/09 crop year but production may be slightly lower in case of bad weather, industry officials said on Tuesday.

An increase in the area planted with wheat, an early end of the cotton crop that made way for wheat sowing and a higher procurement price the government pays farmers were all reasons for the higher output, they said.

‘The target of 25 million tonnes is achievable,’ said Ibrahim Mughal, chairman of the Agri-Forum farmers' association.

‘But in case of unfavourable weather, output is expected to be between 24 million and 25 million tonnes.’

Pakistan produced 21.8 million tonnes of wheat in the 2007/08 crop after the area under cultivation fell 2.6 per cent against a target area of 21 million acres (8.49 million hectares), and the government had to import wheat to cover the shortfall and for reserves.

Pakistan consumes about 22 million tonnes of wheat a year while nearly one million tonnes finds its way to neighbouring Afghanistan and Iran, traders say.

According to the industry officials wheat has been sown over an area of about 22 million acres, largely because of a 52 per cent increase in the procurement price to 950 rupees ($12.05) that encouraged farmers to grow more.

‘The response of farmers has been very good to the increase in procurement price and that is the reason for the increase in the area planted with wheat,’ said Zahoor Agha, a top official of the private All Pakistan Flour Mills Association.

‘God willing, we will achieve the target of 25 million tonnes,’ he said.

Domestic wheat prices had become more competitive compared with the cost of imported wheat because of lower prices in the international market.

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