LAHORE, May 21: The Punjab government is likely to achieve its revised procurement target of 2.5 million tons by Thursday (today) but the food department would keep buying wheat to avoid price crash.

This was claimed by adviser to the chief minister Jehangir Tareen while talking to Dawn here on Wednesday.

According to new official calculations, the province needed 2.5 million tons to ensure enough stocks to meet the demand of the province. By Tuesday, it had bought 2.265 million tons.

He said average procurement had dropped to 30,000 tons a day. Keeping the figure in mind, the department would procure 2.3 million tons by Thursday. The Punjab had 200,000 tons leftover from the previous year which meant that wheat procurement target would be achieved, he added.

But achieving the target did not mean that the department would pull out of the market and let the price come down. “The government has ensured price throughout the season. Now it would not let all its hardwork go down the drain at the fag end of the procurement drive,” he said.

The government would keep buying wheat as long as farmer keep supplying it voluntarily, he maintained.

The food department has money and gunny bags ready in the market and would not pull them out unless the entire crop is sold.

About initial estimates, which put the provincial final yield at 16.3 million tons and later bringing it down to 15.3 million tons, Mr Tareen said two factors led to the earlier calculations. The country suddenly received full amount of water required for the crop when rain started in the third week of February. It came on the heel of record sale of fertilizers DAP and urea. Both the factors created a euphoria and the Crop Reporting Centre based its pre-harvesting calculation on them. But, as soon as harvesting started, the department was quick to revise the estimate downwards and reduced them to 15.35 million tons.

Mr Tareen claimed that the Punjab government would soon launch a technical training programme to train stockists about wheat preservation and ascertaining total stocks in the province. This year, many new stockists have procured wheat and they might be needing proper training to stock it safely. The agriculture and food departments would join hands to carry out the training. This would not only help preserve a national asset but also help the government ascertain the amount of stocks in the province.

No fee would be charged and the stockists would only have to buy drugs needed for preservation, he added.

About the possible rise in flour prices, he was categorical in government’s determination to keep it at Rs189 per 20 kgs. “The provincial stocks are meant for not only ensuring food security but also price stability. The department will immediately release wheat whenever price fluctuate beyond a certain level. The price is normally manoeuvred by cartels and the government was on its guards against such a possibility,” he concluded.