Punjab will supply Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) with 100,000 metric tons of wheat to cover its grain requirements, which will be lifted after Eidul-Azha.
This year, the Punjab Food Department purchased 100,000 metric tons of grain for KP, which had previously been purchased by private contractors on behalf of the KP province from various parts of Punjab. Their presence in the market, on the other hand, used to drive up prices.
“This year, we had a G2G agreement with KP, which is why we procured more wheat than the target established for the year. In a conversation with Business Recorder on Friday, Director Food Punjab Danish Afzaal said, “The department has contacted the KP government to lift the committed 100,000 metric tons from the provincial food department.”
Until last year, he added, KP contractors used to acquire wheat from Sargodha division and other places. Punjab assured to give flour to KP according to its need if its contractors are stopped from purchasing grains from Punjab. He stated that because of these private contractors, Punjab used to only fulfill 70% of its wheat buying objective from the Sargodha division, but that excluding them from procurement this year resulted in the procurement target being exceeded by 10%.
He stated that KP requires 1.2 million tons of wheat every year, of which they produce little more than 100,000 metric tons, with the remaining 100,000mt purchased from Punjab and the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO) and other federal agencies.
According to Director Food Punjab, the KP government will pay roughly Rs 1,937 per maund, which includes the official support price of Rs 1800 and incidental expenses of around Rs137 per maund. This grain will be transported from Punjab by the KP government on its own dime.
