Sugar crisis brewing
The consequences of the shortage are predicted to be harsh for both consumers and the government. Soon we will find consumers either paying very high prices for the sweetener or waiting for hours in long queues to buy it in small quantities at subsidised rates.
July 2010

Problematic surplus wheat
A three-member committee of senior officials has been assigned the task of drawing up a strategy to utilise surplus wheat in the light of proposals received from different stakeholders.
July 2010

Grain storages for food security
IN the absence of planning for maximisation of crops and low spending of allocated funds for construction of modern storage facilities, Sindh faces a threat of becoming a food insecure province.
November 2009

Pricing of sugarcane and sugar
THE Agricultural Prices Commission (APCom) set up in 1981, was required to advice the government on the support price of about half a dozen important crops like wheat, rice, cotton, sugarcane and oilseeds. In doing so, the APCom had to consider about 15 different criteria.
November 2009

Unaffordable fertiliser prices
THE prices of fertiliser have gone up in the market with the arrival of Kharif season in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Growers say that surge in prices of fertiliser, an important input in farm production, has become unaffordable for small cultivators.
June 2010

Managing timely export
PAKISTAN has become self-sufficient in wheat and is able to export two million tons of the commodity. But the decision to export from the existing stock has come at a time when firm estimates about the size of current crop is yet to be available and the official procurement drive to gain momentum. It does not seem to be appropriate.
April 2010

Cotton production crosses 12mn bales
Besides sporadic use of BT cotton seeds this season, the crop remained free from all diseases and no worth mentioning pest attack was reported from Sindh and the Punjab, said cotton analysts.
December 2010

Tractors’ sales surge to 26,816 units
About 200 vendors of the tractor manufacturing industry have inducted 15-20 per cent new hands since June to meet the surging production and sales of tractors and the robust future demand.
December 2009

Village agricultural centre
FARM production can be increased by 80-100 per cent if improved seeds, fertilisers, farm machinery, insecticides and herbicides are available to farmers at reasonable price together with interest-free loans in time.The price of diesel and electricity rates may also be cut for agricultural use..
December 2009

Sluggish pace of wheat sowing
ACCORDING to the official figures compiled on November 7, the pace of wheat sowing this season in Punjab is slower than last year in rain-fed areas. By that date, the province had sown only 1.2 million acres – out of which some 400,000 acres came from barani (rain-fed) areas.
November 2009

Fish exports up 21pc in value during 9 months 
Pakistan Seafood Industries Association says exports to Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand have virtually nullified the negative impact of EU ban. - Reuters photo KARACHI: Fish exports increased by 21 per cent in value during the nine months.
November 2009

Sunflower seeds give best nutritional quality
SUNFLOWER seeds are power-packed with healthy fats, protein, fibre, minerals, vitamin E, and phytochemicals - all important to the nutritional quality of diet. While the vibrant, strong sunflower is a recognised worldwide for its beauty, it is also an important source of food.
November 2009

How a Biofuel 'Miracle' Ruined Kenyan Farmers 
Everyone in Kibwezi, a village in southeastern Kenya parched by four years of drought, remembers the promises. It all started in 2000, when the government started preaching the word about a plant called jatropha curcas.
October 2009

South Asia frets over high food prices 
Ambika Biswas looks at her grocery bag and winces. She is buying food for her family in one of New Delhi's cheapest markets — yet her grocery costs are far higher than last year.
September 2009

No land leased to Saudi Arabia yet: Waqar 
Minister for Investment, Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan Monday said Pakistan had not given land to Saudi Arabia or any other country, however, the Gulf states were keen to acquire land in the sub-continent for agriculture purposes due to growing fear of food scarcity.
September 2009

Adequate supplies of sugar available: TCP 
The Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) has sufficient sugar stocks to meet Ramazan demand and has already issued orders for release of 50,000 tons of sugar to Utility Stores Corporation from its total stocks of 166,000 tons lying with different mills throughout the country.
August 2009

Lower targets for cash crops 
ARGETS for two cash crops - cotton and rice - have been fixed at lessthan what the country achieved last year, leave alone bumper andrecord yields of the past.This year, cotton target has come down to 13.3 million bales againstlast season’s production of 14.1 million bales.
July 2009

Kharif crops ? growers await support prices 
NO support price for rice crop has been announced while the Kharif season has entered its third month. I have planted rice seedlings on just 20 out of my 45 acres. I am indecisive whether or not to cultivate more rice this season,? says Muhammad Arif Mahar, a rice grower in Wazirabad, a village in Shikarpur district.
July 2009

Water shortage hurts Pakistan’s rice exports 
Pakistan exported about 2.9 million tonnes of rice in the 2008/09 financial year, down from 3.3 million tonnes the previous year, and a possible water shortage has raised concern for the new crop, an industry official said on Wednesday.
July 2009

Sindh files complaint against fertiliser firms 
It has been stated in the complaint that at least two leading fertiliser companies in Sindh pressurise buyers to purchase a bag of DAP for four bags of urea.
June 2009

Vegetable and fruit exports up in 11 months 
Fruit and vegetable exports during July-May 2008-09, increased by 6.55 per cent and 26.63 per cent, respectively.
June 2009

Damage to peach crop in Swat likely 
Thousands of tons of peach crop is feared to be wasted in the Malakand division this season again as mass exodus of people continues from the area after the launch of military operation ‘Rah-i-Haq-II’ for flashing out Taliban.
May 2009

Storage issues may hit wheat procurement 
INADEQUATE grain storage capacity in the public sector departments can cost the country greatly as a major chunk of the procured wheat will be kept in the open or it will be at the mercy of private warehouses.
May 2009

Small growers at the mercy of middlemen 
MIDDLEMEN are individuals/business concerns who perform various marketing functions involved in the purchase and sale of goods as these move from producers to consumers.
April 2009

Bt cotton in butcher’s hand 
Agricultural use of genetically modified (GM) crops across the world has increased almost seventy fold in the past ten years and is set to double by 2015, says a study released by The International Service for the Acquisition.
April 2009