The World Bank has unveiled a roadmap to modernize Pakistan’s wheat sector, recommending five priority reforms aimed at boosting private sector investment, increasing farmer incomes, and improving food security.
The plans recommend a shift away from decades of state-led interventions toward a more market-driven wheat economy, with the report calling for targeted action on productivity, research and development, support for small farmers, better market governance, and more efficient grain reserve management.
Titled Wheat Sector Modernisation Roadmap, the technical paper says traditional measures such as minimum support prices and large-scale public procurement have created inefficiencies, high fiscal costs, and weak incentives for crop diversification and private investment.
According to the report, Pakistan’s average wheat yield of 3,200 kilograms per hectare remains significantly below competitors, around 50 percent lower than Egypt, 25 percent below Ukraine, 10 percent below India, and nearly 35 percent lower than India’s Punjab region. The paper notes that improved varieties have the potential to yield up to 7,500 kilograms per hectare in selected areas.
The World Bank has urged increased investment in better seed systems, balanced fertilizer use, water management, and agricultural research, while also expanding access to finance, aggregation, and digital advisory services for small landholding farmers.
The report says a transparent, competitive, and market oriented wheat sector supported by public-private partnerships could strengthen rural incomes, create jobs, and support long-term agricultural transformation in Pakistan.
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