By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will hold as much as 6 million metric tons of wheat in strategic reserves and does not expect a shortage this year, Food Security Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain said on Monday, days after the government raised its indicative price for the 2027 crop by Rs1,000 a maund.
“This will help ensure uninterrupted supplies and protect the country against potential market disruptions,” Hussain said at a press conference in Islamabad. He said adequate arrangements were in place to meet national requirements.
The assurance targets a grain market that has been unsettled for months. Hussain called the recent rise in wheat prices artificial and said certain market players had manipulated it. He said enough stock was available and expressed confidence that prices would return to normal within days. The government is monitoring the market closely, he said, and will act against artificial shortages, speculation and unjustified price increases.
Retail prices remain well above the new government figure. Open-market wheat averaged about Rs5,517 per 40 kilograms in the week ended Oct. 22, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data. A 20-kilogram bag of flour averaged Rs2,976, up about 36% from a year earlier. Retail and farm-gate prices are not directly comparable, but the gap shows the scale of the pressure on consumers.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday set the indicative wheat price for 2027 at Rs4,500 per maund, up Rs1,000 from last year. His office said the increase reflected higher production costs. The prime minister said the move was meant to relieve growers facing higher fuel costs and inflation.
Hussain said the price of Rs4,500 per 40 kilograms was fixed after extensive consultations with all provincial governments. He said the higher rate would stabilize the domestic market and enable Pakistan to export wheat next year.
“The enhanced support price will not only maintain stability in the domestic wheat market but also enable the country to export wheat next year,” he said. He argued that the decision reflected an approach aimed at safeguarding farmers’ interests.
The word “indicative” has carried weight since last year. The International Monetary Fund questioned Pakistan’s 2025-26 wheat policy in October 2025, believing the government had fixed a minimum support price. Officials replied that the figure was only an indicative price benchmarked to import costs.
Hussain said imported wheat would cost roughly Rs4,500 per maund, making domestic procurement the better option. He said the government would put Pakistani farmers first and avoid relying unnecessarily on foreign supplies.
He said more than 1.3 million metric tons of wheat had gone to the provinces from stocks held by the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation, known as Passco. Arrangements could also be made to import up to 550,000 metric tons, depending on provincial requirements and demand.
That import ceiling is well below what the government was weighing in the summer. In July, the provinces requested more than 2.2 million tons from the federal government, and Islamabad moved toward importing nearly 1 million tons through the Trading Corporation of Pakistan. Punjab had planned to buy 3 million tons from farmers this season but bought only 480,000 tons. National output of 29.78 million tons fell short of the ministry’s estimated requirement of 31.66 million tons, which includes carry-over stocks.
In August, Hussain told a National Assembly committee that imported wheat would cost between Rs4,200 and Rs4,300 per maund. Lawmakers asked why the government would import if domestic stocks were adequate. He also said then that wheat would become surplus if the support price were set at Rs4,500.
Pakistan Kissan Ittehad President Khalid Mahmood Khokhar backed the decision and the pledge to export next year. He said he was satisfied with the consultation process and stressed the importance of a predictable, reasonable price for growers.
Last month, the association demanded Rs5,000 per 40 kilograms and warned that farmers might not sow wheat if crop policies were delayed. It said growers could not afford balanced fertilizer use because they were not recovering production costs. The new price is still Rs500 below that demand. Other farm leaders have welcomed the step in principle but warned that without a Rs5,000 price and state procurement, Pakistan could still face a wheat and flour crisis.
Hussain separately said the prime minister would coordinate with the provinces to set a uniform wheat rate. In early October, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah approved the release of government wheat at Rs12,500 per 100 kilograms from Oct. 15 to stabilize flour prices. Sharif chaired the first National Agricultural and Food Security Council meeting on Oct. 13.
Hussain said the federal government was taking comprehensive steps to raise agricultural productivity, improve market regulation and ensure essential food is available nationwide. It has also drawn up policies on seeds, olives and biotechnology to modernize the sector and encourage innovation.
He said ensuring the “availability of quality seeds, promoting modern agricultural technologies and improving regulatory mechanisms” was essential to raising productivity and lowering farmers’ production costs.
“Agriculture remains the backbone of Pakistan’s economy,” Hussain said. “Sustainable agricultural development is indispensable for national economic stability, rural prosperity and long-term food security.”
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