The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Minfa) has written a letter to the Sindh government to desist from imposing inter-provincial and inter-district ban on the movement of wheat.
On one hand the Sindh government has failed to take any action against dealers who are purchasing wheat at Rs 800 per 40kg from growers in spite of the Rs 950 per 40kg support price fixed by the government and on the other it is resorting to ban on its movement, reliable sources told Business Recorder here on Monday.
They said that the inter-provincial and inter-district ban on wheat movement by Sindh government has resulted in flour price hike in the provincial markets besides, the flourmills of the province are facing acute shortage of wheat.
The federal government has already fixed the support price at Rs 950 per 40kg. This decision was taken by the government due to high price of inputs eg fertilisers such as DAP and urea, shortage of water and to ensure the production of 25 million tons wheat, target set for 2008-09.
"In the domestic market, flour price has increased to Rs 600 per 20 kg while in the other provinces, it is being sold at Rs 420-450 per 20kg," sources disclosed. Despite over three million tonnes of import both by the government and private sector, along with local production of 22.6 million tonnes in 2007-08, there is no carryover stock of wheat with the provinces. The total land under cultivation in the Sindh province is 14 million acres while over 12 million acres of land in Sindh is not being used for wheat.
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