ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif while taking notices of complaints from farmers has directed the federal government to immediately start purchasing wheat from them.
In order to resolve the issue, the prime minister increased the target of the federal government to purchase wheat from 1.4 million metric tonnes to 1.8 million metric tonnes. He also directed the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services (PASCO) to increase the wheat purchase target and start purchasing wheat from farmers as soon as possible.
It may be noted that the farmers got worried after the Punjab food department said that its godowns had already 2.3 million tonnes of wheat and it had no room to store the fresh wheat. Moreover, it said that the current season was not suitable to purchase wheat.
The farmers were of the view that incessant rains have made it difficult for them to save harvested wheat still lying in the fields. The standing crop in many areas was also threatened of being spoiled in the rain.
