ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government has unveiled its Wheat Policy 2025-26 that aims to ensure fair prices for farmers and maintain stable strategic reserves to safeguard national food security, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office announced Sunday.

Under the new wheat policy, the federal and provincial governments will acquire strategic reserves of about 6.2 million tons from the 2025-26 wheat crop, according to PM Sharif’s office.

The procurement will be made at Rs3,500 ($12) per maund as per the international import price of wheat, which will ensure fair price and profit to farmers while maintaining market competitiveness.

“The government is well aware of the difficulties faced by farmers,” Sharif was quoted as saying at a meeting of provincial and regional representatives and stakeholders.

“The policy will play a significant role in ensuring food security for the people of Pakistan.”

The development comes weeks after floods in Pakistan’s breadbasket Punjab province destroyed 30 percent of the country’s wheat stocks, a senior official of a leading business forum said.

Pakistan was ranked as the world’s eighth-largest wheat producer by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) last year. It said the country had produced 31.4 million tons of the crop that year, which amounted to 4 percent of the world’s total wheat production.

Agriculture contributes 24 percent to Pakistan’s gross domestic product, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The USDA has estimated Pakistan’s wheat production this year at 28.9 million tons from 9.1 million hectares till August, 8 percent down from last year’s 31.4 million tons.

The new policy reflects a unified effort by federal and provincial stakeholders to strengthen the agricultural economy and support the farming community, according to Sharif’s office.

National Food Security Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain will head a national committee, comprising representatives from all provinces, to monitor implementation and coordination of new policy measures.

“Under the [new] policy, there will be no restrictions on inter-provincial movement of wheat to ensure its availability across Pakistan,” the PM’s office said.