Passco to launch wheat procurement drive shortly

Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) is all set to launch wheat procurement drive 2011 from fourth week of the current month. The corporation has arranged Rs 34 billion as loan from a consortium of different banks to meet the procurement target of 1.3 million tons wheat, said Managing Director PASSCO Major General Sohail Shafqat while briefing the members of the Agriculture Journalists Association, here on Thursday.
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Minfa) out of the total national wheat procurement target of 6.57 million tons has assigned the corporation to buy 1.3 million tons from 15 tehsils of Punjab and three tehsils of Sindh province. From Punjab, the corporation will be buying 1.26 million tons while from Sindh its procurement target is 40,000 tons.
He said that procurement in Balochistan would be made subject to demand and provision of funds on the part of the respective provincial food department. The corporation has already established its zonal office at Dera Allah Yar having 14 purchase centers in Nasirabad, Jafarabad and Jhal Magsi districts.
The corporation in Punjab will buy from Hafizabad, Pindi Bhattian, Gojra, Okara (including Renala), Pakpattan, Burewala, Mailsi, Mian Channu, Lodhran, Kehror Pacca, Bahawalnagar, Minchanabad, Alipur (including Jatoi), Khanpur and Layyah while in Sindh it will buy from Sobo Dero, Kandiaro and Sakrand. It has established 176 wheat procurement centers in Punjab, 11 in Sindh and 14 in Balochistan. The corporation would be buying at support price of Rs 950 per maund.
In addition to procurement of current crop, PASSCO expects to carry approximately 1 million tons wheat thus would be having a stock of 2.3 million tons at the end of procurement 2011. He proudly said that the corporation has reported zero loss during the last five years. As per policy, the corporation has to keep 0.5 million tons of strategic reserve and another 40,000 tons for SAARC Food Bank.
Bardana (gunny bags) are now available at all wheat procurement centers for distribution to the wheat growers on fair and equitable basis, he said adding that monitoring committees at center level had also been constituted besides advertising the procurement procedure and policy and numbers of all the officers concerned to immediately resolve complaints if any.
Sohail Shafqat replying to a question said that the corporation had already sold out rice procured during 2009-10 while some 40,000 tons of rice from the crop 2008-09 was still in its stores, which would also soon be disposed off. He said that the corporation had to face Rs 10,000 on average loss against each tons of rice sold by it due to gap between the procurement price and the selling price.