SAHIWAL – The Punjab government will start wheat procurement campaign in the province from 17th of next month during which 3.5 million metric tons wheat will be procured mainly from small farmers to ensure financial benefits to them. During this campaign, 423,000 metric tons wheat will be procured from Sahiwal division, including 171,000 tons from district Sahiwal, 160000 from Okara and 92000 metric ton from district Pakpattan.
A meeting was held at the commissioner’s office here to finalise the procurement arrangements with Commissioner Qazi Muhammad Ashfaq Qureshi in the chair and attended by Punjab Food Director Najam Shah, Deputy Director Sahiwal Khalid Mukhtar Gondal and other relevant officers of food and revenue departments. The commissioner appreciated the arrangements and directed the autorities to issue bardana on the “Fard Milkiyyat’ (land documents issued by patwaris) so that small farmers could not be deprived of bags. He also said that tents, chairs and drinking water should also be available at all wheat procurement centres for growers.
Najam Shah told the meeting that the food department would purchase wheat from five tehsils of Sahiwal division while Passcco was going to procure wheat from Okara and Pakpattan tehsils. He further said 42 procurement centres would be set up in the division – 20 in Sahiwal district, 14 in Okara and eight in Pakpattan.
