Ban on wheat movement to help achieve procurement targets

Published March 20, 2020
Ministry of National Food Security and Research on Thursday proposed restrictions on intra-district movement of wheat crop and ban on private sector from procuring the crop until public sector targets are achieved. — Reuters/File
Ministry of National Food Security and Research on Thursday proposed restrictions on intra-district movement of wheat crop and ban on private sector from procuring the crop until public sector targets are achieved. — Reuters/File

ISLAMABAD: Ahead of wheat harvesting season, Ministry of National Food Security and Research on Thursday proposed restrictions on intra-district movement of wheat crop and ban on private sector from procuring the crop until public sector targets are achieved.

The meeting, chaired by Minister for National Food Security and Research Makhdoom Khusro Bakh­tyar reached a consensus on stopping wheat procurement by feed millers, rice mills and ginners.

The wheat procurement target for Passco has been set at 1.8 million tonnes, while Punjab will procure 4.5m, Sindh 1.4m, Baloc­histan 1m, and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 0.45m.

The government has alre­a­dy approved minimum support price of Rs1,400 per 40kg.

The meeting was infor­med that 1,162 wheat purchase centres have been established throughout the country and district administrations in all provinces have been ordered to take strong legal action against hoarders.

Punjab and Sindh governments will begin public procurement of wheat from Mar 25 subject to weather conditions. The procurement will be done on first-come-first-serve basis.

Food Security Minister Bakhtyar directed the officials at the meeting to devise daily or weekly monitoring procedures to evaluate procurement targets and asked them to follow directions given by the Economic Coordination Committee related to intra-provincial agreements defining the quantity and price of wheat crop so that cost-sharing among the provinces can be rationalised.

He said that there is sufficient supply of wheat and wheat flour across the country and government is also going to procure heavily during the coming wheat harvesting season. There is no need to panic as reports from food ministers and representatives of food departments regarding supply of flour and wheat in all provinces have been satisfactory, he added.

It was decided that another meeting will be held in the first week of April to review arrangements made by all provinces to assure their procurement position.

The meeting was attended by Ministry of National Food Security and Research Secretary Dr Muhammad Hashim Popalzai, agriculture ministers of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) managing director besides secretaries of food departments from Punjab, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2020

Follow Dawn Business on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Opinion

Editorial

Time to deliver
Updated 11 Nov, 2024

Time to deliver

Pakistan must display a serious commitment to climate change adaptation and mitigation at home.
Smaller government
11 Nov, 2024

Smaller government

THE IMF bailout programme has put the government under pressure to curtail its spending, especially current...
Unsafe inheritance
11 Nov, 2024

Unsafe inheritance

DESPITE regulations, the troubling practice of robbing women of their rightful inheritance — the culprits are ...
Quetta bombing
Updated 10 Nov, 2024

Quetta bombing

THERE appears to be no end to the stream of violent incidents occurring in Balochistan, indicating a clear failure ...
Burdened courts
10 Nov, 2024

Burdened courts

ACCORDING to recent reports, the new chief justice has set about implementing a recently adopted plan for clearing...
Playing in Pakistan
10 Nov, 2024

Playing in Pakistan

MOHSIN Naqvi, Pakistan’s cricket chief, has shown a brave face. Now he has to be unrelenting and put the onus on...