Pakistan mulls over grain market strategy

To improve agricultural productivity and ensure food security in Pakistan, the government has prepared a strategy regarding regular supply and support price policy for crops.

The plan aims to facilitate farmers through purchase and support prices for some crops, and availability of farm inputs.

Components of the plan include the timely announcement of support price for wheat and intervention price for other crops. The policy would also help ensure availability of farming inputs such as seeds, fertiliser urea, agricultural machinery, pesticides, and herbicides at affordable prices.

Pakistan will also implement measures to ensure optimum use of water through drip and sprinkle irrigation and other water management methods.

Under the new strategy, the government plans to announce production targets of both kharif and rabbi crops including corn, wheat and canola. The government plans to boost farmers' access to modern crop varieties and new technologies, and promote the adoption of good agricultural practices for grain production.

The government would also explore markets for any surplus production of a commodity in both internal and external markets. The marketing system would be improved so that poor farmers would get reasonably paid for their produce.