President Asif Ali Zardari has called for maintaining strategic food reserves to ensure food security in the country.

He expressed these views during a meeting to discuss issues related to wheat procurement in Islamabad.

The President said soft loans should be extended to the private sector to construct silos and modern wheat storage facilities to meet the food needs of the growing population.

He directed to address the issues of farmers including provision of reasonable wheat price, making timely interventions, and streamlining the procurement process.

During the meeting, the President was briefed about the issues faced by farmers regarding wheat procurement and the distribution of Bar Dana to them.

Highlighting the importance of agriculture sector, President said that almost 65 percent of the country's population is residing in rural areas and providing adequate wheat price to farmers would help boost the rural economy.

The President stressed the need for adapting modern techniques including the availability of credible data regarding crops to make timely policy interventions and addressing food security issues.