MULTAN, April 12: The growers and agricultural experts from southern Punjab are optimistic that the country would produce 22 million tons wheat, which would fulfill the required consumption of the country.

The government has set the wheat target of 24 million tons for this season, while last year the country produced the record 23.3 million tons.

Khawaja Muhammad Shoaib of Farmers Vision Forum estimated the wheat production at 22 million tons, 1.3 million ton less as compared to last year. He put the consumption of wheat at 21.5 million tons.

He said that now all the responsibility had been shifted towards the government institutions and if they succeeded in controlling the border and kept an eye on flourmills, a wheat crisis could be averted.

He said that last year due to low prices of wheat, the grain was used as fodder and in the preparation of poultry feed, which was also a factor for last year’s wheat crisis.

Malik Manzoor Jauta a progressive farmer from District Layyah said despite the harm done to the crop ready for harvesting by inclement weather, he was optimistic that the quantity of wheat would be sufficient for the district as compared to the last year.

He said that last year the price of husk increased to Rs150 per 40 kg and the people preferred to use the wheat as fodder and in making poultry feed.

He said that the farmers were unable to store the crop because they have not godowns and they would ultimately sale their crop to the government.

He said that the farmers would be forced to sell their crop to the government because the private sector has not yet become active in the district to purchase the crop. There was a strong possibility that the government institutions would succeed in achieving their target, he said.

He said that if the private sector came forward to purchase the crop, farmers would prefer to sell wheat to them.

Former president PPP Kisan Wing, Muzaffargarh, Dr Suhail Alam said that last year the government agencies in the district failed to achieve the procurement target and it seems that it would be very hard for them again this year.

He said that the district could face 15 to 20 per cent deficiency in crop production due to delay in sowing, increasing trend of sugarcane cultivation and rapid increase in inputs prices.

He said that the cold climate and rains were a blessing in disguise at a time when the farmers were facing difficulties due to the shortage of irrigation water.

He said that government should take the wheat issue seriously and should monitor the performance of its agencies because their irregularities have created distrust among the farming community.