Wheat procurement in Sindh to start from March 5, in Punjab by April 5
ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to start early wheat procurement campaign for the crop season 2019-20 to maintain the strategic reserves of the staple food as well as to facilitate the growers to sell their produces on official fixed rates.
The procurement campaign in Sindh Province will start from March 5 as wheat crop harvesting has been started in lower Sindh, said Food Security Commissioner Dr Imtiaz Ali Gopang.
Talking to APP, he said wheat procurement drive in Punjab, the largest grain-producing province, will start from April 5 with an aim to facilitate the growers, particularly small scale growers.
The Economic Coordination Coordination (ECC) of Cabinet in its recent meeting had accorded the approval for procuring 8.25 million tons wheat during the current procurement campaign, he added.
The Provincial Government of Punjab had been tasked to procure 4.5 million tons of grains to fulfill the domestic requirements as well as keeping strategic reserves of food grains, he added.
Meanwhile, he said the Sindh Government had been assigned to procure 1.40 million tons of wheat and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to procure 0.10 million tons of grains during the current procurement drive.
The provinces were assigned procurements tasks after due deliberations and their food departments had agreed to procure assigned targets in order to fulfill their consumption needs, he added.
Food Security Commissioner further informed that Federal Government had also asked the Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Corporation to procure 1.80 metric tons wheat.
The provincial food departments had already established their procurement centers in their different areas which had been divided into zones and will depute the required staff as the drive starts, he added.
Besides, the Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Corporation would also establish its centers in Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan, he said, adding Sindh had been divided into three zones and Punjab into six, whereas one center in Dera Allahyar to be set up. - APP