Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture Nazar Muhammad Gondal on Thursday announced that the government would establish 50 centres for paddy procurement and get rice husking mills on lease to protect the farmers from being exploited by the middlemen.
Addressing a press conference here, Gondal said that the government was committed to protect the rights of farmers and Pakistan Agricultural Supply and Storage Corporation (Passco) had been directed to establish 50 procurement centres across the country.
To a question about the negative role of middlemen, Gondal said that this year Passco would get rice-husking mills on lease to avoid any unfavourable situations, which could be exploited by the middlemen. He maintained that the government had announced support price for different varieties of paddy ie Basmati Rs 1250 per 40 kg, Basmati 386 Rs 1000 and Irri-6 Rs 600 per 40 Kg.
The minister said that the provinces had refused to procure paddy due to financial constraints, but the federal government would not leave the farmers at the mercy of middlemen and would procure paddy from them, he remarked. He said that the government would purchase one million ton paddy through Passco, adding that for the purpose special centres have been set up which would start procurement within two days.
He said that all over the world paddy production had declined this year and paddy production in Pakistan was also affected to some extent. "Despite this we manage to get better crop as compared to the other paddy growing countries," he added. He said that due to low paddy production in the world this year, Pakistan would get better chances to export more rice to international markets.
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