Rs 1000 support price of wheat proposed

Federal minister for Food and Agriculture, Nazar M. Gondal has proposed on Tuesday that the support price of wheat should be increased from Rs 950 to Rs. 1000 per 40 kg as the prices of inputs like fertilizers etc have increased in comparison to the last year's prices.

The minister was chairing the meeting of the Task Force on Agriculture here at the ministry.

"The per acre cost of production has increased and there would no attraction for the farmers in sowing wheat if we continue with the last year's support price. The calculation made by the Agriculture Policy Institute (API) suggest that we must increase the support price to offer some incentives in the form of guaranteed procurement prices to encourage the farmers to grow wheat.

Maintaining food security is the prime responsibility of the government and it has become a challenge after the recent devastating floods", the minister said.

Gondal said that it is the considered opinion of the Task Force on Agriculture that the support price of the wheat must be increased. He further said that the poor farmers need to be supported in the aftermath of the floods to secure food security for the coming years. The indicative price for rice was pended for the time being as the commodity is getting good prices in the open market.

The minister added the ministry is in consultation with all the provinces to finalize a relief package for the flood affected areas of the country.

He said the total amount for the package could amount to Rs 15 billion and the federal government would chip in 50 per cent while the remaining 50% will be contributed by the provinces.

The meeting was attended by Fedral minister for Information & Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira, minister for Industries and Production Mir Hazar Khan Bijrani and representatives from Planning Commission, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Food and agriculture.

The planning commission was asked to devise a comprehensive plan to ensure that farmers across the board get the announced support price of wheat.

PMIC for analysing impact of water courses on poverty reduction, economy

ISLAMABAD, Oct 2 (APP): The Prime Minister Inspection Commission (PMIC) directed the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to analyse the utility and impact of the “National Programme for the Improvement of Water Courses” on the livelihood, poverty reduction and improvement of the rural economy in the country.The PMIC met here at the Prime Minister Secretariat with its Chairman Malik Amjad Ali Noon in the chair and was attended by its members Rukhan Abdullah Gardezi, Athar Mehmood Khan, A.B.Awan, Tanvir Butt, Dr.M.Aslam and Sikandar Aqeel Ansari. The officials of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture Abdul Gaffar Arian (Monitoring and Evaluation ) and Tahir Anwar, Director General Water Management briefed the committee about the progress of National Programme for the Improvement of Water Courses (NPIWC). The meeting noted that after the 18th Constitutional Amendment and 7th NFC Award the provincial financial resources have increased and called upon the provinces to initiate projects from their own sources.   The meeting also urged the Met office and Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) to determine the causes of the recent floods which caused severe damage to the agriculture and infrastructure and take steps to avoid losses due to such kind of calamities in future. He said that in the next meeting on the programme, which would be convened soon, representatives of the provincial agricultural departments would also be invited.   On the directive of the Prime Minister, PMIC has initiated inspection, monitoring and assessment of the pace of work and quality of the Public Sector Development Projects (PSDP) relating to power, water, health and agriculture and food sectors. The PMIC will submit a comprehensive report on these projects to the Prime Minister. The officials of the Ministry of Food & Agriculture gave a presentation on “National Programme for Improvement of Water Courses” in the meeting.   The umbrella project aims to improve 86,003 water courses (length to be lined 76,610 KMS). The project was approved in December 2004 by the ECNEC at a capital cost of Rs. 66.4 billion with Federal Government’s share of Rs.50.7 billion. However, the Federal Government has provided Rs. 87.4 billion. The project has improved 66,500 water courses against the target of 86,003.   The overall objectives of the project are: i) employment generation, ii) empowering farming community and iii) increased agricultural production through more efficient use of water resources. The provincial components of the project have been approved by the respective provincial governments.   The operation and maintenance of water-courses of the project after completion would be the responsibility of farmers. A study has been undertaken to access the impact of the project. The PMIC Chairman appreciated the efforts made by the Ministry of Food & Agriculture, provincial governments and farmers.   The positive socio-economic impact of the project would help in creation of employment opportunities, improvement in agricultural products and empowerment of farmer community. The PMIC will closely look into the financial arrangement, and help improvement in PSDP allocation for the project.  APP

Government warns of action against overcharging flour mills

The Sindh government has warned of stern action against flour mills and retail outlets involved in selling flour at rates above those prescribed by the administration. “We will take profiteers to task under the Sindh Food Grain Act,” said Sindh’s food secretary, Naveed Kamran.

“Mills are being provided flour at Rs2,550 per maund (40 kilogrammes),” he contended, adding that the provincial government had ample stocks to meet demand in coming months. Food department officials told The Express Tribune that there are about 1.5 million tons of wheat available with the provincial government.  Officials also asserted that the ex-mill price of flour is being held at Rs28 per kilogramme (kg) while the retail price has not exceeded Rs29.5 per kg.

However, market sources contend that the open market price for flour has reached Rs2,650 per maund while retail prices stand between Rs32 and Rs35 per kg.

“Prices in wholesale markets stand between Rs2 to Rs3 above ex-mill prices,” said Anis Majeed, President of the Karachi Wholesale Grocers Association. “Chakki (ground) atta rates are significantly higher at the moment and stand at about Rs36 in retail markets,” he added.

Flour mills threaten strike

Owners of flour mills have lashed out against the one per cent turnover tax and threatened to go on strike if the tax is not revoked immediately. Mill owners have blamed the tax and the recent hike in wheat prices for the increase in the retail price of flour.

Muhammad Yousuf from the Flour Mills Association has rejected the government mandated ex-mill price of Rs28 per kg and demanded that it be raised to Rs30 per kg. He said that the price declared by the government is impractical and a delegation of mill owners would soon meet the food secretary to convey its reservations.

While discussing the turnover tax, he declared it a ‘cruel’ decision that is destined to ruin the lives of the poor since the tax will raise the price of a 50kg bag of flour by Rs30. A meeting of the association has been called on September 28 to decide the course of action to be followed by millers.
The Express Tribune

Rice Prices `Worrisome' as Global Supplies Tightening, Biggest Buyer Says

Rice prices are becoming “worrisome” as global supplies tighten because of crop losses in some of the largest exporters, according to an official in the Philippines, the world’s biggest buyer. 

The global supply-and-demand balance is “not at the 2008 level yet, but it’s pretty worrisome because of the prices,” Lito Banayo, head of the National Food Authority, which handles state rice purchases in the Philippines, said in an interview in Manila yesterday.

The United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization’s global Food Price Index surged in August to the highest level since September 2008 as wheat and rice prices advanced after Russia, the world’s third-largest wheat grower last year, banned exports and flooding in Pakistan damaged rice crops, curbing supplies of Asia’s two main staple grains.

The FAO pared its estimate for global rice production on Sept. 1 for the second time since April as lower water levels in the Mekong River curbed yields in Thailand and Vietnam, the world’s two biggest exporters, and flooding slashed the harvest in Pakistan, the third-largest shipper.

The agency’s Rice Price Index, which tracks 16 export prices around the world, climbed to a five-month high of 215 points in August.

“We feel the market could be subject to a supply crunch,” Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services Pty. in Sydney, said in an e-mail to Bloomberg News today. “Already we have seen a strong movement in rough rice” prices, he said.

Thai Prices

Rice futures advanced to a record $25.07 per 100 pounds in Chicago in April 2008 as exporting countries including India and Vietnam restricted shipments, adding to concerns about a global food shortage that sparked riots from Haiti to Egypt. The Thai export price, the benchmark for Asia, surged to an all-time high of $1,038 a metric ton a month later.

Futures in Chicago have gained 23 percent since slumping to the lowest in almost four years in June. The December-delivery contract traded at $11.685 at 11:18 a.m. in Singapore.

The Thai export price may rise to $525 a ton in October, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 10 exporters and traders last month, as supply tightens ahead of the country’s harvest, which has been delayed because of drought. The price, updated weekly by the Thai Rice Exporters Association, climbed to a five-month high of $495 a ton yesterday.

The FAO cut its rice production forecast for this year to 467 million tons on Sept. 1, compared with 474 million tons in April, and 472 million tons in a June report.

Pakistan Losses

Crop losses in Pakistan “could negatively affect the rice trade,” the FAO said. The agency reduced its forecast for next year’s global exports to 29 million tons, from an estimated 30 million tons this year.

Exports from Pakistan may slump as much as 35 percent to 3 million tons in the year that began July 1, from 4.6 million tons a year earlier, after the deadliest flood in the nation’s history destroyed crops, Malik Jahangir, chairman of the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan, said Sept. 1.

Shipments from India of basmati rice, which is at least twice as expensive as the regular variety, may surge by about 22 percent after the floods in Pakistan, Anil Mittal, chairman of KRBL Ltd., the country’s biggest exporter, said yesterday.

“Timing of when to buy is important” for the Philippines, Banayo said. The country’s government is still “validating” production figures to gauge the volume of rice it needs to purchase for 2011, he said.

Supply in the Philippines may tighten after drought caused by El Nino delayed planting. The nation’s main harvest, which typically begins mid-September, may be delayed by at least a month, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said in July.

Drought may cut rough rice production in the Philippines by 15.2 percent to 9.24 million tons in the first nine months of the year, compared with the same period last year, according to a July report by the nation’s Bureau of Agricultural Statistics.

To contact the reporters on this story: Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore at ljavier@bloomberg.net Cecilia Yap in Manila at cyap19@bloomberg.net

Flood-hit farmers: Govt asked to offer cheap loans

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Food and Agriculture has suggested to the government to disburse the $900 million World Bank loan to the flood-hit farmers at one per cent interest rate and declare the entire cropping zone as ‘calamity area’.
 

The committee which met here on Thursday also demanded the government to draw a relief policy for the flood-affected areas and recommended that long-term loans granted by all commercial banks and Zarai Taraqqiati Bank Ltd (ZTBL) should be waived.

It also asked the government to pay Rs56 billion to the ZTBL which were waived in the past. The committee asked the ZTBL to dispose of the claims of farmers affected by the flood on priority basis.

The meeting chaired by Javed Iqbal Warraich asked the ministry of food and agriculture to issue notification for declaration of calamity area in view of cropping zone, disease zone and crop susceptibility. The ministry should also devise the crop insurance policy.

The committee asked the ZTBL to issue loans on war-footing to rehabilitate agricultural land damaged by floods. At the same time, the ministry of food and agriculture should develop a comprehensive working plan for detailed survey of flood-hit areas, including a water policy for irrigation purposes.

With regard to establishing model villages, the Standing Committee suggested to re-name the scheme. It decided to visit such a village in Sargodha district.

The committee recommended that the ZTBL should reorganise and improve its credit scheme, and introduce innovation and modern technology of tractors, tube-wells, to farmers through private sector.

With regard to insurance policy, the committee recommended that the ZTBL should devise a clear loan policy for individual small farmers. In this regard, a full working plan should be prepared by the ministry of food and agriculture in collaboration with the ministry of finance, FBR and insurance companies.

The committee asserted that ZTBL should come up with efficient ways to revolutionise agricultural lending. The bank should devise strategies for lending to small and marginalised farmers. It should also ensure lending to farmers in livestock, dairy and fisheries and for development purposes including farmers in livestock and dairy fisheries.[DAWN]