LAHORE: Rejecting the new wheat support price at Rs1600 per maund proposed by the government, farmers’ organizations have demanded to fix it between Rs1800-2000 per maund to meet the input cost and save a reasonable return to the growers.
Agri Forum Pakistan Chairman Muhammad Ibrahim Mughal talking to Business Recorder here on Wednesday said that new wheat support price means that the government or market will buy wheat from farmers at Rs40 per kilogram. “In this case, will the government ensure that consumers get flour made of wheat at Rs 45 per kilogram?” He alleged that the government and those who have prepared this summary had once again made a plan to loot farmers and flour consumers.
He was of the view that this price would not prove helpful in achieving the production target, thus Pakistan has to continue import while wheat would be smuggled to Afghanistan. This would happen because of keeping the wheat support price low. The Imran-led government will be responsible for this if happened. In his opinion, the price should be between Rs1800 to Rs2000 per maund. He appealed to the Prime Minister not to listen to bureaucracy and revise the wheat support price upward.
Agriculture Republic founder Aamer Hayat Bhandara questioned the grounds of keeping the new wheat support price even lower than the cost of production prepared by the Punjab province. He also questioned that how the province had calculated the production price at Rs1650 per maund despite higher inputs.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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