LAHORE, May 4: The Punjab government on Sunday persisted with its estimates of around 16 million tons of wheat production this year, and claimed that the province would achieve the target.

Advisor to the Chief Minister Jehangir Tareen claimed while talking to Dawn that all “rumours” to the contrary were part of a propaganda launched by a mafia that wanted the wheat price to crash.

According to the Punjab Agriculture Department, the average yield of wheat in irrigated areas has been 4.1 per cent and in rain-fed areas 66.7 per cent more than last year. The Punjab harvested 14.5 million tons last year and was expected to cross that figure by at least one million tons, he insisted.

At present, there are many buyers — millers, exporters, private consumers and of course the food departments. The cumulative effect of their purchasing spree has stabilized the price at around Rs290 per 40kg. The Punjab Food Department alone may not be in a position to stabilize that price for long. Therefore, a certain mafia wanted to destabilize the market, according to Mr Tareen.

That mafia is trying to scare the buyers away by spreading rumours like those pertaining to an inter-district and inter-provincial ban on wheat movement. It wanted to scare the farmers into holding their crop by claiming that crop position was not as good as the government claimed. If the buyers are shooed away and farmers hold the product in the hope that less wheat in the market will boost prices, the prices could crash when the crop finally hits the market and creates a glut. Mr Tareen emphatically denied any ban on wheat movement.

At present, there is neither a price crisis nor any procurement hiccups, he claimed. The food department has already purchased double the quantity it did last year, the price is stable and there are no reports from any part of the province of any other procedural hindrances.

The whole focus of the government effort this year was to ensure the stability of support price, the advisor claimed. Farmers were free to sell their produce anywhere in the province, and they would remain so, he added.