Pakistan Faces Wheat Shortage Despite 29.8 Million Tonne Harvest

The federal and provincial governments on Monday held their second meeting in five days to address a growing wheat crisis after Punjab and Sindh sought emergency releases from federal reserves to contain rising prices.

The meeting, chaired by Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Cheema, also reviewed the option of importing wheat but deferred a final decision until provinces submit their final requirements.

Punjab has requested one million tonnes of wheat from federal stocks, while Sindh has sought at least 220,000 tonnes available in Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) warehouses in the province.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa requested about 100,000 tonnes for the public sector and another 700,000 tonnes for the private sector. Sindh also urged Punjab to ease restrictions on wheat movement, but Punjab declined, citing its own supply challenges.

The shortages have emerged despite Pakistan producing 29.8 million tonnes of wheat this year. Officials attributed the situation to the abolition of the wheat support price under the International Monetary Fund program without an alternative procurement mechanism and the failure of Punjab and Sindh to purchase sufficient wheat from farmers.

Punjab procured only 480,000 tonnes against a target of three million tonnes, while Sindh purchased just over 200,000 tonnes. Punjab is also reportedly unable to trace nearly four million tonnes of wheat believed to have been hoarded.

Officials warned that meeting provincial demands from PASSCO’s 1.7 million tonnes of reserves would nearly exhaust federal stocks, potentially forcing Pakistan to import between 500,000 tonnes and one million tonnes to maintain strategic reserves. Cheema said any decision on imports would follow a comprehensive review of domestic market conditions and would protect the interests of local farmers.

Although the Ministry of Economic Affairs said provinces reported no immediate nationwide shortage, official data shows wheat prices have risen over the past month to Rs. 4,423 per 40 kilogram in Punjab, Rs. 4,625 in Sindh, Rs. 5,100 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Rs. 4,800 in Balochistan. Flour prices have reached Rs. 142 per kilogram in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar, and Karachi.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Finance Adviser Muzzammil Aslam warned that this is the first major wheat crisis to emerge within months of harvesting, blaming weak procurement and low provincial reserves.

Cheema said PASSCO would release wheat to provinces under existing agreements and assured them that additional supplies would be made available if needed, while the federal and provincial governments continue coordinating efforts to stabilize the market and ensure uninterrupted wheat availability.