530,000 tonnes of certified wheat seeds to be ensured: govt

The government is focusing on the availability of about 530,000 tonnes of certified seeds including 160,000 tonnes of rust-tolerant varieties for the 2021-22 wheat crop season, Minister for National Food Security and Research Fakhr Imam said on Thursday.

Chairing a meeting of the Agriculture Policy Institute (API) Committee on 2021-22 wheat crop, Mr Imam said that minimum support price for the next wheat crop would be anno­unced before the start of the sowing season.

He said the government’s enhancement of minimum support price for 2020-21 crop from Rs1,400 to Rs1,800 had produced good results and helped the country achieve wheat production of 27.5 million tonnes.