JAVED KHAN MOHMAND
PESHAWAR
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s annual wheat production is significantly lower than the province’s requirement, with official documents presented in the provincial assembly showing that the province needs around 5.059 million metric tonnes of wheat annually against current production of only 1.5 million metric tonnes.
According to the documents, per capita annual wheat consumption in the province is 124 kilogrammes. The figures regarding wheat stocks and the shortfall were presented in response to a question raised by MPA Arbab Usman.
The documents put the province’s population at 43.843 million, while another figure cited in the assembly response puts it at 40.8 million. The annual wheat requirement, however, was stated at 5.059 million metric tonnes, while current annual production stands at 1.5 million metric tonnes, making local production insufficient to meet the province’s needs.
Speaking in the provincial assembly, Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on Food Israr Safi stated that the Food Department was taking measures to maintain the supply of flour in the market according to demand, the documents said. Wheat is being released from provincial stocks, while supplies from Punjab are also being ensured through private trade.
The provincial government had purchased 400,000 metric tonnes of wheat from the federal government, he said and added that189,000 metric tonnes of wheat were currently available in government warehouses, while 95,000 metric tonnes had been supplied to flour mills since last month. Mr Safi said there was no shortage of wheat in the province , although a shortage had emerged across the country due to the situation in Punjab.
He said Punjab produced around 20 million metric tonnes of wheat annually against its requirement of approximately 16 million metric tonnes. However, he added, KP remained dependent on Punjab for wheat supplies.
The special assistant alleged that the Punjab chief minister had directed deputy commissioners to take action if even a single grain of wheat was allowed to move to KP, accusing the provincial government of deliberately restricting wheat supplies to the province.
He said that even if neither the federal government nor Punjab supplied a single grain of wheat, KP had sufficient stocks to meet its requirements for about a month.
Mr Safi reiterated that the province had 189,000 metric tonnes of wheat in government storage and consumed around 124 kilogrammes of wheat per person annually.
