ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s potato growers may finally see relief after years of glut and crashing prices, as 101 local companies secured registration with the Russian Federation on July 7, 2026, clearing the path for fresh export consignments. Lawmakers, however, refused to let the good news pass without a fight, grilling the Ministry of National Food Security and Research over crop statistics they suspect don’t add up.
The National Assembly Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research met for the 28th time on Wednesday in Committee Room No. 7, Parliament House, with Chairman Syed Tariq Hussain, MNA, presiding over a session that swung between celebration and confrontation.
Ministry officials told the committee that Russia’s move to lift earlier import restrictions, combined with the fresh registrations, positions Pakistani exporters to tap a market that has long eluded them. Committee members didn’t wait for the paperwork to settle they instructed the ministry to start moving surplus potato stock to Russian buyers immediately, arguing that farmers can’t afford another season of dumped harvests and rock-bottom prices.
Pakistani Potato Exporters Cleared
The mood soured when officials claimed potato cultivation had exploded from 177,700 hectares in 2015-16 to 462,160 hectares in 2025-26, a jump lawmakers found hard to swallow. Rather than accept the figures at face value, the committee sent the ministry back to the drawing board, demanding verified, authenticated numbers before it signs off on any policy built around them.
Beyond potatoes, members pushed for a centralized coordination cell to unite federal and provincial efforts on food security, market monitoring, and smuggling prevention a structural fix officials say is already in motion, with the PC-I finalized and rollout expected within three months.
Food Security Plans Reviewed
The session also exposed friction over a stalled research project. The panel wondered why the agreement reached by PARC with Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, for establishing a Dates Research Center did not find mention in PSDP allocation for 2026-27 and directed the chairman of PARC to submit in writing the commitments undertaken on behalf of PARC during his trips to Khairpur and Thatta, including any signed MoUs.
A different development in the case came as the ministry informed the panel that it had cancelled the recruitment procedure for 80 posts of scientists.
Mango exporters didn’t escape the spotlight either. The committee pushed back against a one-size-fits-all export timeline, pointing out that Sindh’s mangoes ripen before Punjab’s a mismatch that’s reportedly hammered prices for Sindhi growers stuck waiting out export restrictions timed for another region’s harvest. The ministry now has to deliver a five-year, country-wise export data report before the panel meets again.
Ten MNAs, including Waseem Qadir, Rana Muhammad Hayat Khan, and Ms. Musarrat Asif Khawaja, sat through the marathon session, alongside senior officials from health, science, and food regulatory bodies across the provinces.
With Russia’s market cracking open and Parliament demanding harder numbers, Pakistan’s potato sector stands at a rare crossroads one where opportunity and accountability are colliding in the same room.
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