"For policymakers in the government the food security is only confined to ensuring good wheat production," said Dr Abid Suleri. — File Photo

ISLAMABAD: Faced with inept policy direction, the import bill of eatables witnessed a substantial growth of 75 per cent during the first half of the current fiscal year making Pakistan not only dependent on import of non-staple products but also threatened its food sovereignty.

The July-December import bill of edible products widened to $2.708 billion from $1.547 billion in the same period last year placing the food group second in the total import bill after the oil group, suggested data released by the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) on Wednesday.

For policymakers in the government the food security is only confined to ensuring good wheat production, said Sustainable Development Policy Institute Executive Director Dr Abid Suleri. “Balance diet also constituted sufficient amount of fats (edible oil), which is a non-staple food items.”

Statistics showed that import of palm oil increased by over 60pc and soyabean oil 68 pc in the period under review. “All these non-staple food items has not only increased the country’s import
bill but also threatened our food sovereignty,” warned Dr Abid.

He suggested that the Agriculture Research Department should promote production of oilseed crops to reduce import dependence on non-staple food products.

According to statistics, the import bill of milk products up by 74 per cent and dry fruits up 13.25pc owing to high consumption in winter season.

But for Secretary Ministry of Food and Agriculture Junaid Iqbal, the rise in import bill of food items was an international phenomenon. “We cannot produce palm oil locally, which constitutes a significant portion of import bill,” he said.The import of pulses witnessed an increase of 99 per cent during the July-December 2010-11. “We only produce 50 per cent of our domestic consumption of pulses,” the secretary agriculture claimed.

The import of tea also increased by 26.8 per cent and spices 52 per cent, respectively, both in quantity and value suggesting high consumption of these products.

The import of oil also edged up 17.80pc at $5.467 billion during the July-December period as against $4.641bn in corresponding period last year.

The FBS data showed that the import of crude oil up by 20.17 per cent to $2.062 billion during the July-December period of the current fiscal year as against $1.716 billion in the same period last year.

On the other side, the import of petroleum products reached to $3.404 billion, up by 16.41pc from $2.924 billion in the same period last year.

The third biggest component of the import bill in value was the machinery group. However, its imports increased by 1.76 per cent in July-December 2010-11 to $2.664 billion from $2.617 billion in the same period last year. The import of mobile phones surged 92 per cent and accessories 25 per cent.

Ironically, the import of construction machinery declined by 32 per cent during the period under review suggesting slowdown in the construction sector owing to rising input costs.