LAHORE – Punjab Food Secretary Irfan Elahi has stated that all arrangements have been finalised to kick start the annual wheat procurement campaign in April. He informed that the provincial government had fixed the wheat procurement target at 3.5 million tonnes. For this purpose, 376 procurement centers are to be established in different parts of the Punjab. These procurement centers could be enhanced according to the requirement, he added.
Elahi said that to facilitate the farmer, they will be provided gunny sacks on recommendation of the Punjab Revenue Department. He said that special monitoring teams would be committed to monitor the wheat procurement campaign.
He stressed that the government had determined that it will eliminate the role of middlemen in wheat procurement. He pointed out that the Punjab government had sold some 3.2 million tonnes of wheat from existing stocks to enhance current wheat storage capacity.
