All About/Crops
 Wheat
Need for
comprehensive wheat storage and export policy
SIRAJ-UL-HASSAN
Pakistan harvested a record wheat
crop of about 22 million tonnes, last year, which far exceed
its domestic requirements. This enabled it to dispense with
the import of wheat altogether. On the contrary, it has an
appreciable exportable surplus.
Now, Pakistan has to formulate a comprehensive wheat export
policy so that the surplus wheat is channelled in the export
outlets profitability. Unfortunately, this has not yet been
done.
However, efforts are afoot to export wheat to the needy
nations and some qualities have already been exported to
Afghanistan, Iraq and some other countries. A public sector
corporation viz Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) has been
given the responsibility to do the job. TCP's modus operandi
in this regard is not clear. Sometimes it exports direct to
some countries and at other times through inviting the private
traders/exporters to enter into contract with it for some
specified volumes to be exported abroad.
Consequently, with such lopsided efforts, we have not been
able to achieve much success to export wheat in greater
volumes and huge quantities are still lying unsold with the
risk of deterioration on account of inadequate and
unscientific poor storage capacity. Now, our wheat is more
than a year old, and is greatly vulnerable to loss of
qualities and decrease in its selling prices.
Under such challenging situation, we have to gird up our loins
tightly to make the post-harvest treatment of wheat as
scientific as possible.
In order to increase the storage life of wheat, the foremost
priority is to be given to store it in godowns or silos
scientifically constructed having proper light and temperature
arrangements. Presently, in Pakistan, proper storage
facilities (both in public and private sectors) are far below
the requirements. These faulty arrangements in the public
sector are available mainly for wheat, rice and cotton.
In 1992-93 the National Logistics Cell (NLC) constructed silos
of varying capacities at Khairpur, Karachi, Chichawatni,
Faisalabad and Quetta. Sometimes back the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), also assisted Pakistan in the
construction of 540,000 tonnes storage facility for wheat and
rice. Apart from this, temporary storage is also made
available during the peak harvesting seasons. But such ad hoc
efforts can hardly cope with a situation of stable surplus
wheat production.
As in the present condition, when movement of wheat in the
export outlets is pretty slow, we greatly need its storage in
a proper and scientific way to safeguard it from
deterioration. Because of lack of proper silos, as per recent
press reports, a large volume of wheat has been rendered
non-edible causing considerable loss of revenue to the
national exchequer. Some losses have also reportedly occurred
due to the quality of freshly harvested wheat not being up-to
the mark. As such not only the post-harvest but harvest
practices should also be improved.
A commodity already in bad condition, when kept even in the
scientifically constructed storage equipped with temperature
control device, is more vulnerable to further damage. Thus,
there is a dire need to supplement our efforts in this regard
with the adoption of improved scientific practices in respect
of harvesting, thrashing, winnowing etc. This may cause
quality uplift of the wheat harvested. When kept in storage
even for a long time, it may be least vulnerable to loss of
quality.
Among post-harvest activities, another prerequisite for
facilitating expert of wheat is its grading before export in a
scientific manner duly approved by ISO. In this way we shall
be able to ensure our prospective foreign buyers better
quality of our wheat successfully. Thus, we shall also meet
the competition in the foreign market, particularly from the
long established export giants like USA, Canada, Australia and
France.
While taking the necessary measures to embark on a wheat
export programme for accelerating its pace of movement in the
export outlets, we must also keep the momentum of wheat
production achievable after a long time and with great
efforts.
In the past except during 1964-65 when we harvested a bumper
crop of wheat, our production had been persistingly far below
our domestic requirements. Even in the recent past from
1996-97 to 1998-99 wheat production did not exceed 18,694,000
tonnes (1997-98). It only attained an enviable level of about
22,000 tonnes in 2000-2001, affording a formidable exportable
surplus for the disposal of which in a profitable manner, we
are struggling hard in the foreign market. However, a modest
beginning has already been made in this regard as stated
above.
In reaching the situation of surplus wheat production, to find
out how much time was taken, it shall not be out of place to
have a retrospective view of the situation.
Before independence only one district Lyallpur (now Faisalabad)
falling in that part of the sub-continent which now forms
Pakistan was called "the granary of wheat," feeding most of
the wheat deficient provinces of India. Due to the hostile
attitude of India, this activity came to a stand-still with
the result that wheat production in the above stated district
received a great setback so much so that Pakistan itself also
felt the brunt of the situation and started to import sizeable
quantities of wheat from abroad to overcome the shortage.
According to FAO Production Year Book 1988, in the global
wheat production of 509952 ('000' metric tonnes, Pakistan's
share was as insignificant as 1597 (000 metric tonnes)
accounting for only 0.31 percent. Against this, Pakistan's
share in the world import of 98,865 (thousand metric tonnes)
was 378 (thousand metric tonnes) or 4.24 percent. Obviously,
Pakistan could not figure anywhere in the world wheat export
scenario of 100476 (thousand metric tonnes).
With the above adverse situation of wheat production looming
large for more than half-a-century, Pakistan after all has now
emerged successful from an importing to exporting country. Now
to maintain this position Pakistan should not be oblivious of
what it has to do.
In order to meet the challenge of maintaining the momentum of
wheat production and disposing of its surplus profitably in
the international market, it seems essential to set up a
high-level institution at the national level to which specific
responsibilities in this regard should be entrusted. The
establishment of a National Wheat Board on the pattern of the
Canadian Wheat Board may be an ideal choice. Along with the
above steps, 'Eat-more-Wheat', like 'grow-more-wheat' campaign
may also be launched to increase the domestic consumption of
wheat minimising the pressure on other cereals as well as on
other edible items. This campaign may be successful by
introducing novel and attractive items of wheat products.
Views presented
here are of those of the writer and Pakissan.com is not liable
them.
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