LAHORE: As the psyche of shortages and fears of further rise in prices grip the wheat market, the Punjab government wants to shore up its stocks by half-a-million-tonnes and taking its case to the federal government to help it import the commodity before it is too late.

The Punjab had earlier written to the Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Corporation to give it 500,000 tonnes out of its stocks of three million tonnes. In July, the Passco responded that it cannot spare the quantity from local stocks.

It can, however, share half of its one million tonnes import. The Punjab readily agreed, but even that proposal was refused later on, and the provincial government was told to contact the federation for the help. The Punjab wrote to the federal government, and is still waiting for the response – keeping its fingers crossed and markets volatile.

“Some blame politics for the federal refusal (Passco being a federal entity) and delay (ministry refusing to respond), the provincial government is, however, refusing to buy this line of argument and is dispatching its secretary (food) to Islamabad on Monday (tomorrow) to convince the federation of seriousness and urgency of the issue,” explains one of the cabinet members concerned about the issue.

“Yes, the Punjab needs 500,000 tonnes to increase its comfort for the rest of the season,” an official of the Food Department dilates upon the issue. It is, however, not a panic situation.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2022