Key Takeaways
- Ministry of National Food Security and Research calls for reduced wheat seed prices.
- Meeting held with private seed companies to discuss affordable seed for farmers.
- Government aims to support timely wheat sowing and national food security.
The Ministry of National Food Security and Research in Pakistan has called on private seed companies to reduce the prices of wheat seed, making it more affordable for farmers ahead of the Rabi sowing season, which is set to begin shortly.
National Food Security Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain chaired a meeting on Wednesday with representatives of private seed companies and the National Seed Development and Regulatory Authority (NSDRA) to discuss wheat seed prices and inter-provincial movement.
The minister emphasized the importance of timely access to affordable seed, particularly for small farmers whose purchasing decisions are influenced by the combined costs of seed, fertiliser, irrigation, and other agricultural inputs.
Low use of certified wheat seed is identified as a significant challenge to wheat production, and the government is promoting climate-resilient, high-yielding, and disease-resistant wheat varieties through strengthened research and seed multiplication programmes.
Mr Hussain directed the NSDRA to ensure the smooth inter-provincial movement of wheat seed, highlighting the need for coordination with provincial authorities and seed suppliers to address movement-related difficulties and ensure seed reaches farmers within the appropriate sowing period.
A document on the wheat seed position for the 2026-27 Rabi crops shows that wheat seed procurement availability is 611,793.06 tonnes, which will fulfil 51 per cent of the total seed requirement of 1,191,555 tonnes.
Wheat seed availability is distributed as follows: Punjab (553,008.75 tonnes, 67 per cent), Sindh (40,873.89 tonnes, 23 per cent), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (7,458.62 tonnes, 7 per cent), and Balochistan (10,451.80 tonnes, 13 per cent).
For the Rabi season 2025-26, total seed availability for sowing was 574,329.53 tonnes (51 per cent).
