We could not fulfill our wheat target for this year:Fakhar Imam

Islamabad : Our Government took timely and effective measures to bring to the economy in a stable condition during the hard time of Covid-19 Pandemic; this was said by the Federal Minister for National Food Security & Research Syed Fakhar Imam while addressing a virtual session of FAO Ministerial Regional Conference today in Islamabad. He said that we have to be very alert in future for which we have made several up gradations in our health sector to deal with any challenges. He said that Pakistan is confronted with the Covid-19 pandemic which started in March this year. The COVID-19 pandemic spread in Pakistan like in many other countries across the globe, with over 305,000 confirmed cases, over 292,000 recovered and over 6400 deaths.
Syed Fakhar Imam said that Locust infestation is another disaster that has occurred at a time when the country is trying to cope with the COVID-19. The COVID-19, locust infestation and exposure to multiple disasters/shocks have compounded effect on the vulnerable households across Pakistan, particularly those living in rural areas and dependent subsistence agriculture-based livelihoods for their sustenance and survival. The multiple threats to food and nutrition security, their negative and cumulative impact, and the clear link between shocks and hunger reveal the fragility of current food production systems and their vulnerability to disasters. The COVID-19 emergency came at a time when Pakistan was already going through high inflation particularly food inflation, slow economic growth and high poverty and food insecurity, he added. Our provinces, districts & villages are in continuous collaboration we are continuously examining the situation in order to combat locust infestation effectively.
The Federal Minister said that due to aggravating COVID-19 situation, the Government of Pakistan imposed lockdown and restrictions on movements of goods and people in last week of March 2020. However, the Government tried its best to ensure that food and agriculture supply chain remain undisrupted, and allowed movement of food and agriculture items from rural to urban markets and within the country. Even in the lockdown, supply of livestock products, food, fruits and vegetables items were allowed to continue. Food and agriculture inputs shops/markets mostly remained opened in most of the areas across Pakistan, though with limited opening hours and days.
Syed Fakhar Imam said that unfortunately we could not fulfill our wheat target for this year as we were short of 1.5 Million Ton (MT) of our required yield due to which we had to import wheat to meet the consumer demand. Now that the imported wheat is arriving Pakistan, the prices will be settled.
Federal Minister said that the restrictions on movements have affected the livestock sector, which has 60.6% share in agriculture and around 11.7% in overall GDP. Both supply and demand for livestock products along with fruits and vegetables has reduced due to reduction in demand, and logistics movement restrictions.
Syed Fakhar Imam informed that in order to mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 on overall economy, the Government of Pakistan has announced economic relief and stimulus package of Rs 1.24 trillion as part of its immediate response to COVID-19, which will also contribute to agriculture sector and agriculture value chains through its linkages with other sectors. He said that our government has announced a stimulus package of Rs. 100 billion, 50 billion each for small & medium industry and agricultural sector with a holding of 12.5 acres of land or below.
The Federal Minister thanked FAO for its continued support and collaboration of strengthening the agriculture sector and improving food security in Pakistan.