Farmers have expressed their concern over delay in announcement of wheat procurement campaign dates for the current season and urged the provincial government to kick start it in the South of Punjab from April 15 and in Central Punjab from April 20. Though the country and the province has received good rains in this season, it has also increased moisture in the crop and the farmers have to spend more to save it from fungus or other such diseases, said founding convener Punjab Water Council (PWC) Farooq Bajwa on Monday.
Talking to Business Recorder, Bajwa expressed the fear that the provincial food department may delay the procurement drive this year on the pretext of higher moisture level in the wheat crop. He said growers had to dispose off their produce in a certain time to payback the loans taken on the current crop and to buy seed and inputs for the coming crops.
"Owing to the lethargic policies of government departments, growers already had received lower rates of their cotton crop and were also facing outstanding payments for their sugarcane produce. Sugarcane was also short this year," he claimed.
"Wheat is our major crop and staple food for our people. Growers should be compensated accordingly so that it could be sown on more area and with more devotion in next season. The government had announced Rs 1300 per maund support price for this crop in the year 2013 when the dollar was at Rs 90. Now in the year 2019 when the dollar is hovering around Rs 139; the support price for wheat is the same," Bajwa said and added that even then growers could not receive this amount because of delaying tactics by the food departments concerned.
He said the total production of the Punjab comes to two crores bags of wheat and if growers receive Rs 100 less in the support price; accumulative loss comes to Rs 50 billion. He said no commodity had the same price for the last seven years except wheat. He said a timely and vigorous buying campaign by the food department can help the farmers to get due price and keeps the price stable throughout the season.
Bajwa concluding his remarks urged the government to immediately announce a clear-cut procurement policy as to how much wheat it intends to buy and start this buying spree in the mid of April from South and from April 25 in Central Punjab.