CM Usman Buzdar announces wheat purchase target, price

LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar on Monday announced to purchase 3.5 million metric tonnes of wheat in the province at the rate of Rs2200 per 40 kilograms, ARY NEWS reported.

Sharing details of the target for wheat purchase in the province, Usman Buzdar said that the Punjab cabinet has approved the purchase target and it could be further increased if needed.

“Effective measures will be taken to counter illegal movement of wheat from the province,” he said and added that an eight-member team has been constituted for the purchase of wheat.

He said that provincial, divisional, district and tehsil level committees have been formed for monitoring the purchase target while provincial ministers, advisers and SAPMs will also monitor the purchase process.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved the revision of the minimum support price of wheat crops from Rs1950 to Rs2,200 per 40 kilograms recently.

The ECC met in Islamabad with Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin in the chair.

It approved the wheat procurement target for Punjab to the tune of 4.00 MMT with a Cash Credit Limit of 220.00 billion rupees while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) was allowed to procure 0.20 MMT from Punjab Food Department with their own financial arrangements, Radio Pakistan reported.

The committee also approved the wheat procurement target of Sindh to the level of 1.40 MMT, along with a Cash Credit Limit of 77.00 billion rupees and Baluchistan of 0.10 MMT with 6.20 billion rupees of the cash credit limit.

The committee also approved the proposal of subsidy disbursement to the farmers on Kharif crops during 2021 on fertilizer, cottonseed and Whitefly-related pesticides till June 30 this year.