LAHORE, April 24: As the wheat procurement has picked up steam in the southern part of the Punjab, the food department claimed on Thursday to have purchased 0.85 million tons (2.5 per cent of the targeted buying of 3.5 million tons) of wheat.

However, the department officials insist that 3.5 million tons was only an initial target and it was prepared to procure 4.5 million tons, which is the entire marketable quantity of crop. The department has already arranged Rs37 billion and 45 million gunny bags for the purpose, they say.

Reports reaching here from the southern parts of the province revealed that the wheat price at the farm-gate was around Rs285 to Rs290 per 40 kilograms in the market. “The temperature is mild in most parts of the province, especially in northern part,” claims a grower from that area. The growers in Lahore, Gujranwala, Gujrat and upwards have yet to start harvesting because of high moisture content.

According to another farmer, risk of price crash can be reduced drastically, if Passco joins the spree unlike it did in the last year. Otherwise, the crop price would definitely come down, he said, urging the government to ask Passco to join the task.

Commenting on the quality of wheat procured by the department, Deputy Food Secretary Asad Gilani said Fair Average Quality purchase was being ensured and there was no problem in the process because of many reasons. First, there was no rush of supply and the procurement staff had ample time to asses quality of the crop. However, he said trouble would start only when trolleys loaded with crop converge on the centres in their droves, but it had not been the case so far. Second, he said, the department now had two years of experience to evaluate crop and its quality and there was no problem for it to ensure FAQ this year.

He said the grain had not shrivelled this year because of healthy supply of water. Although the department had given the margin of five per cent of shrivelled grain like it did last year, it had not been noticed in the procurement areas so far, he added.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Flour Mills Association has accused the food department of ignoring the FAQ standards and failing to get its representatives on the procurement committees. “The department’s employees are minting money by ignoring the standards and purchasing substandard wheat,” a press release issued by the association alleged.

Mr Bilal Sufi of the PFMA insisted that the department was ignoring the FAQ and replacing new gunny bags with the older ones. Being the end user, the millers had every right to monitor the wheat quality, he added.

Punjab Food Secretary Sibghat Mansoor shrugged off the criticism and said the PFMA was a pressure group and trying to maintain its tactics. “The PFMA should not have any concern about the quality of purchase right now,” he said.

The purchase teams include representatives of the district government, members of the National and provincial assemblies, farmers and the department.

“The PFMA wants market to crash because it has vested interests,” claims a farmer from Lahore. He said: “The growers’ loss is the PFMA’s gain.”