The Punjab Food department has planned to add one million tons of wheat storage facility to its already existing capacity of around 2.1 million tons of wheat. For the purpose five new permanent godowns would be constructed in five years.
The department in planning to include the projects in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) 2009-10 and preparing a comprehensive plan in collaboration with the Planning and Development Department in this regard, sources in the food department told Business Recorder here on Tuesday. According to the sources, the total Annual Development Programme (ADP) by the food department Punjab for the next fiscal has been proposed at Rs 180 million.
These would be spent on 14 new schemes. Construction of five new godowns is the part of these schemes, and the department has prepared recommendations in this regard. The focal point of these recommendations is to construct storage facilities in wheat consuming areas of the province instead of wheat producing areas.
Therefore, it is recommended that godowns of wheat be established in central and northern parts of the province. Punjab, the largest producer of wheat in the country, has only 2.1 million tons of wheat storage facilities. It may be recalled that the provincial government had set a wheat procurement target of 6 million tons for ongoing season.