Pakistan to suffer 2.2 million ton wheat shortfall

[Devil Soul]

Pakistan is set to miss its wheat production target by a significant 2.2 million tons, the Agri Forum of Pakistan (AFP) said on Wednesday

According to details, the country produced a total of 22.8 million tons of wheat in the ongoing fiscal year 2013 – 2.2 million less than the set target of 25 million tons for the year.

"The wheat production shortfall was mainly booked from the province of Punjab that harvested mere 17.5 million tons against its initial target of 19.2 million tons – showing a deficit of 1.7 million tons," AFP Chairman Dr M Ibrahim Mughal told local media. He said that the decline in the production in the province was a result of poor planning and wrong estimations by the Directorate of Agriculture, Crop Reporting Service-Punjab since the sowing.

"The directorate had estimated to produce 18.6 million tons wheat in the year against the target of 19.2 million tons," he said, "On the contrary, the AFP has warned the directorate and other concerned officials in the government in March-end that Punjab could produce not more than 17.8 million tons of wheat during the year."

He said that the AFP was giving its independent estimates after conducting a survey. The forum has deployed 75 people in the province to conduct the survey. However, "the officials of the directorate were giving false estimates to please the secretary agriculture." He said that the province produced lower wheat due to late sowing, water shortage, lower use of fertiliser, and increase in cost of production of other inputs. Besides, the province of Sindh produced about 3.1 million tons wheat against its target of 3.2 million tons; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa produced 1.2 million tons against a target of 1.6 million tons; and Balochistan produced 800,000 tons wheat against the target of one million ton, he said.

As per the information provided by the forum, Pakistan is required to produce 26 million tons wheat per annum to remain self-sufficient. Out of this, 23 million tons wheat is required for human consumption, 1.5 million tons for seeding, while another 1.5 million tons is wasted by the time it reached markets and flour mills.

Meanwhile, with the addition of 500,000 tons carryover stock from the previous year, the county is now having a total of 23.3 million tons wheat available for the year, Mughal said.

He, nevertheless warned that the food procurement departments of provinces and the federal wheat procurement agency have so far procured only 5.5 million tons wheat against the set target of 7.1 million tons for the year. - See more at: Pakistan to suffer 2.2 million ton wheat shortfall | Pakistan Today | Latest news | Breaking news | Pakistan News | World news | Business | Sport and Multimedia

 

[Jango]

I am pretty sure that before elections, Qamar Zaman Kaira was harping about that due to PPP we now export wheat and have surplus stocks.

 

[zakriaarshad]

Still it is being planned to sale wheat to Iran............

 

[Spring Onion]

wah g wah wah wah.

Before elections PPP said Pakistan will have bumper wheat crop this year.

 

[Azazel]

Well,This is some thing that's been going on in a global scale.

World grain reserves are so dangerously low that severe weather in the United States or other food-exporting countries could trigger a major hunger crisis next year, the United Nations has warned.

Failing harvests in the US, Ukraine and other countries this year have eroded reserves to their lowest level since 1974. The US, which has experienced record heatwaves and droughts in 2012, now holds in reserve a historically low 6.5% of the maize that it expects to consume in the next year, says the UN.

"We've not been producing as much as we are consuming. That is why stocks are being run down. Supplies are now very tight across the world and reserves are at a very low level, leaving no room for unexpected events next year," said Abdolreza Abbassian, a senior economist with the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). With food consumption exceeding the amount grown for six of the past 11 years, countries have run down reserves from an average of 107 days of consumption 10 years ago to under 74 days recently.

Prices of main food crops such as wheat and maize are now close to those that sparked riots in 25 countries in 2008. FAO figures released this week suggest that 870 million people are malnourished and the food crisis is growing in the Middle East and Africa. Wheat production this year is expected to be 5.2% below 2011, with yields of most other crops, except rice, also falling, says the UN.

The figures come as one of the world's leading environmentalists issued a warning that the global food supply system could collapse at any point, leaving hundreds of millions more people hungry, sparking widespread riots and bringing down governments. In a shocking new assessment of the prospects of meeting food needs, Lester Brown, president of the Earth policy research centre in Washington, says that the climate is no longer reliable and the demands for food are growing so fast that a breakdown is inevitable, unless urgent action is taken.

"Food shortages undermined earlier civilisations. We are on the same path. Each country is now fending for itself. The world is living one year to the next," he writes in a new book.

According to Brown, we are seeing the start of a food supply breakdown with a dash by speculators to "grab" millions of square miles of cheap farmland, the doubling of international food prices in a decade, and the dramatic rundown of countries' food reserves.

This year, for the sixth time in 11 years, the world will consume more food than it produces, largely because of extreme weather in the US and other major food-exporting countries. Oxfam last week said that the price of key staples, including wheat and rice, may double in the next 20 years, threatening disastrous consequences for poor people who spend a large proportion of their income on food.

In 2012, according to the FAO, food prices are already at close to record levels, having risen 1.4% in September following an increase of 6% in July.

"We are entering a new era of rising food prices and spreading hunger. Food supplies are tightening everywhere and land is becoming the most sought-after commodity as the world shifts from an age of food abundance to one of scarcity," says Brown. "The geopolitics of food is fast overshadowing the geopolitics of oil."

His warnings come as the UN and world governments reported that extreme heat and drought in the US and other major food-exporting countries had hit harvests badly and sent prices spiralling.

"The situation we are in is not temporary. These things will happen all the time. Climate is in a state of flux and there is no normal any more.

"We are beginning a new chapter. We will see food unrest in many more places.

"Armed aggression is no longer the principal threat to our future. The overriding threats to this century are climate change, population growth, spreading water shortages and rising food prices," Brown says.

UN warns of looming worldwide food crisis in 2013 | Global development | The Observer

Unless,Humans stop breeding like rabbits.We will all be soon starting eating insects.

 

[AUz]

Well,This is some thing that's been going on in a global scale.



UN warns of looming worldwide food crisis in 2013 | Global development | The Observer

Unless,Humans stop breeding like rabbits.We will all be soon starting eating insects.

As of now, its only the problem of management.

On topic : What an utter shame. A fertile country like Pakistan should have huge surplus in Agricultural sector....but on the contrary, even our local demands are not being fullfilled currently.

 

[Last Hope]

Thank you everyone for voting for Noora league. I hope you taste the shame and pain.

 

[Azazel]

As of now, its only the problem of management.

On topic : What an utter shame. A fertile country like Pakistan should have huge surplus in Agricultural sector....but on the contrary, even our local demands are not being fullfilled currently.

Then you are seriously under estimating the problem.The Global change and over population is disrupting long-standing agricultural practices.Crop losses are increasingly being caused by extreme weather events, and there is nothing we can do to stop it.Many areas in Sub continent climate change is expected to increase the scarcity of water resources and encourage weed and pest proliferation leading to the serious threat to food security.

 

[Al Bhatti]

As of now, its only the problem of management.

On topic : What an utter shame. A fertile country like Pakistan should have huge surplus in Agricultural sector....but on the contrary, even our local demands are not being fullfilled currently.

Add to that: Education, health, economy, social welfare....

 

[fatman17]

Pakistan is set to miss its wheat production target by a significant 2.2 million tons, the Agri Forum of Pakistan (AFP) said on Wednesday

According to details, the country produced a total of 22.8 million tons of wheat in the ongoing fiscal year 2013 – 2.2 million less than the set target of 25 million tons for the year.

"The wheat production shortfall was mainly booked from the province of Punjab that harvested mere 17.5 million tons against its initial target of 19.2 million tons – showing a deficit of 1.7 million tons," AFP Chairman Dr M Ibrahim Mughal told local media. He said that the decline in the production in the province was a result of poor planning and wrong estimations by the Directorate of Agriculture, Crop Reporting Service-Punjab since the sowing.

"The directorate had estimated to produce 18.6 million tons wheat in the year against the target of 19.2 million tons," he said, "On the contrary, the AFP has warned the directorate and other concerned officials in the government in March-end that Punjab could produce not more than 17.8 million tons of wheat during the year."

He said that the AFP was giving its independent estimates after conducting a survey. The forum has deployed 75 people in the province to conduct the survey. However, "the officials of the directorate were giving false estimates to please the secretary agriculture." He said that the province produced lower wheat due to late sowing, water shortage, lower use of fertiliser, and increase in cost of production of other inputs. Besides, the province of Sindh produced about 3.1 million tons wheat against its target of 3.2 million tons; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa produced 1.2 million tons against a target of 1.6 million tons; and Balochistan produced 800,000 tons wheat against the target of one million ton, he said.

As per the information provided by the forum, Pakistan is required to produce 26 million tons wheat per annum to remain self-sufficient. Out of this, 23 million tons wheat is required for human consumption, 1.5 million tons for seeding, while another 1.5 million tons is wasted by the time it reached markets and flour mills.

Meanwhile, with the addition of 500,000 tons carryover stock from the previous year, the county is now having a total of 23.3 million tons wheat available for the year, Mughal said.

He, nevertheless warned that the food procurement departments of provinces and the federal wheat procurement agency have so far procured only 5.5 million tons wheat against the set target of 7.1 million tons for the year. - See more at: Pakistan to suffer 2.2 million ton wheat shortfall | Pakistan Today | Latest news | Breaking news | Pakistan News | World news | Business | Sport and Multimedia

misleading head-line....!

 

[Roybot]

Thank you everyone for voting for Noora league. I hope you taste the shame and pain.

Wheat takes around 4 months to grow, bit unfair to blame to Nawaz Sharif for this don't you think?

 

[arushbhai]

Thank you everyone for voting for Noora league. I hope you taste the shame and pain.

How are they responsible? They arent even in the power yet. You must be a supporter of potian. Take your negativity somewhere else little brah.

 

[Ayush]

hum hain naa..

 

[arushbhai]

hum hain naa..

Oh bhai, hum khud bhi bana saktay hain. Pakistan is in a mess not because of lack of resources but because of poor and incapable management. I was watching a tv show where the host was saying that pakistan needs 6,000 mw of electricity and than he said around 6,000 mw of electricity goes into a waste because of theft, poor management and old electricity generating equipment. Same thing applies to other fields in pakistan. If pakistan can bring in a well educated and honest management, we wont have loadshedding.

 

[Ayush]

Oh bhai, hum khud bhi bana saktay hain. Pakistan is in a mess not because of lack of resources but because of poor and incapable management. I was watching a tv show where the host was saying that pakistan needs 6,000 mw of electricity and than he said around 6,000 mw of electricity goes into a waste because of theft, poor management and old electricity generating equipment. Same thing applies to other fields in pakistan. If pakistan can bring in a well educated and honest management, we wont have loadshedding.

arey thik hai bhai,tu to emotional ho gaya..