Review Of The Pakistan Economy (Food And Agriculture)

During the period under review, from October 1960 to March 1961, prices of wheat at Lyallpur (West Pakistan) recorded a small net increase while prices of rice at Dacca (East Pakistan) registered an appreciable net decline. (See Table below) Wheat prices at Lyallpur showed a persistent tendency to rise owing partly to drought conditions and partly to withholding of stocks by traders in expectation of shortages of foodgrains following enlarged shipments to the cyclone affected areas of East Pakistan. Prices touched a peak of Rs. 17/12/- 18/14/- in the middle of January from Rs. 15/8/- 17/- per maund at the close of September 1960. The continued release of government stocks at a fixed rate of Rs. 16/- per maund through 250 centres was a major factor for the reversal in the rising trend in prices. The onset of winter rains also had a favourable impact on prices. As a result, there was a marked decline in prices which closed finally at Rs. 16/- to 17/- at the end of March 1961. Meanwhile, the final estimate of wheat crop for 1959-60 placed output at about 0.6 per cent higher at 3,876,000 tons compared with the preceding year, the area under wheat cultivation having risen by 1.6 per cent to 12,193,000 acres. However, the first forecast of wheat crop for 1960-61 places the cultivated area at 10,428,000 acres or a decline of 16.0 per cent as against the first forecast for 1959-60.