ISLAMABAD: The Nati­onal Assembly Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research has recommended to the government to announce Rs2,200 per 40kg as the minimum support price for 2021-22 wheat crop.

Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhr Imam assured the committee that the minimum support price of wheat for the next season will be announced within a week after consultations with provinces.

The minister said a bumper wheat crop is recorded this year.

There has been a demand from wheat growers to enhance the support price. However, the government had fixed Rs1,800 per 40kg as the support price of wheat during the last wheat season. It is likely that the support price would be increased for the next wheat season.

The Nati­onal Assembly Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research meeting, chaired by Rao Mohammad Ajmal Khan, discussed in detail the issue of theft of garlic seed from the National Agricultural Research Centre, and asked the ministry and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Centre to submit a report to the fact finding committee at the earliest.

The committee further asked the authorities concerned to provide the status report as to how much seed was sold over the past three years.

The committee discussed in detail the ‘Islamabad Bee-keeping and Honey Board Bill, 2021’ and the ‘Islamabad Poultry Production Regulation Bill, 2021” introduced by Nafeesa Inayatullah Khan Khattak, and passed the proposed bills, unanimously.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2021