MULTAN City News

Farmers angry over not procuring all wheat produce
Forced to sell the crop in market at lower rate
From Nadeem Shah
MULTAN: The district administration has devised a procurement strategy in violation of the Punjab government claims of procuring each grain of wheat to boost the farmers and to improve their financial status.
PTI Vice-Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi rejected less than 50 per cent procurement and said the government was just playing with the innocent farmers who had already faced looses in potato, rice and cotton crops.
Talking to this scribe, he pointed to loopholes in the procurement strategy and said the government was not committed with farmers.
The wheat harvesting has been commenced in the district along with other parts of south Punjab, but the peasants are facing difficulties in selling their produce at Rs 1,300 per 40kg following Rs 15O/250 drop in per 40kg price, with the wheat is being sold in Multan at Rs 1,050 to Rs 1150 on roadsides.
Officials say the administration had targeted less than 50 per cent wheat procurement in the district against the government’s tall claims. The situation has disappointed the growers fearing grave financial exploitation at the hands of middlemen.
Officials said the district administration had planned buying of 227,000 tonnes of wheat from the entire district and set 16 procurement centres.
The Punjab Crop Reporting’s fresh surveys have estimated production of 531,460 tonnes of wheat this year and feared 5 per cent decline in yield. The Crop Reporting officials said the district had received 544,810 tonnes of wheat last in 2014-15. This year, the average yield is reduced from 32.1 to 30 maunds per acre due to frost and bad weather in December last.
The officials said the administration had ensured transparent wheat procurement process as the centres procured at the rate of Rs 1,300 per 40 kg, adding that the procurement process would continue until the last grain was procured.
A Punjab Kissan Committee office bearer, Iqbal Malik, rejected district officials’ claims and said the farmers were facing problems in selling their produce because the procurement centres were given limited procurement target.
The Punjab Kissan Board president, Khurshid Ahmed Khan, strongly condemned the wheat procurement drive and said the farmers were being forced to sell their crop at lowest prices, adding that the growers could not stock their produce for a long period and selling the produce at Rs 1,125 per 40 kg.
He said they had planned protests across the province to protect farmers’ interests and would even roads.
Khurshid Khan Kanju demanded procurement of entire wheat form peasants instead procuring 227,000 tones of wheat.
On the other hand, the officials said farmers were being treated at centres like guests and more transparency was brought through a computerised system and citizen feedback.