LAHORE, Nov 9: Rice procurement under the arrangements made by the Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) and rice mills kicked off at selected centres in Punjab on Sunday.

A Passco official said the corporation had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with 42 rice mills in Punjab, allowing them to procure rice from growers on its behalf.

Passco officials will visit Sindh in a couple of days to hold meetings with rice millers and representatives of the Sindh Agriculture Department to make arrangements for rice procurement in the province.

Passco and the Punjab Agriculture Department are working with the millers and growers to fix problems regarding rice procurement. Under the MoU, millers would buy rice from growers at the rate set by the government, process it and sell it to Passco.

Passco would make payment for 75 per cent of the rice purchased by mills, while the mills would make payment for the remaining 25 per cent. Passco staff would monitor rice purchase by mills to ensure transparency and payment to growers. — APP