President Asif Ali Zardari has stressed the need of providing a reasonable wheat price, through timely interventions, and streamlining the procurement process to protect the interest of farmers. The President said that farmers needed to be supported and encouraged, which would help increase wheat production in the country. Farmers could not get a reasonable price for the wheat crop as well as faced problems in getting the wheat procurement bags (Bar Dana), he regretted. These views by the President during a meeting held here on Tuesday to discuss issues related to wheat procurement in the country. Minister for National Food Security and Research (NFS&R), Mr Rana Tanveer Hussain, and senior officials of the Ministry of NFS&R and PASSCO attended the meeting. On the occasion, the President was briefed about the issues faced by farmers regarding wheat procurement and the distribution of Bar Dana to farmers.

Speaking during the meeting, President Asif Ali Zardari highlighted that almost 65% of the country’s population was residing in rural areas and providing adequate wheat price to farmers would help boost the rural economy. He underlined that maintaining strategic food reserves was essential to ensure food security and meet the future food requirements of the country. He said that soft loans should be extended to the private sector to construct silos and modern wheat storage facilities to meet the food needs of the growing population. The President stressed the need for the availability of credible data regarding crops to make timely policy interventions as well as accurately predict the future food needs of the country. He also suggested that the agriculture sector should be deregulated.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan