LAHORE: As the harvesting of wheat crop gains momentum in Punjab and Sindh, growers are fearing a further drop in market prices.

Grain reaping season is in full swing in Sindh and South Punjab, where almost 50 per cent of the crop has been harvested. The arrival of the new crop has brought down grain rates from the previous level of Rs2,900-Rs3,700 to Rs2,200-Rs2,390 per 40 kg in various markets of Punjab and Sindh, and up to Rs2,450 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

The apprehension that the rates will slip further when harvesting activity picks up in central Punjab is giving growers sleepless nights. They say they have been left at the mercy of private actors after the federal and provincial governments of Punjab and Sindh withdrew themselves from the market under an IMF condition.

Punjab, which used to pick on an average 4.2 million tonnes of wheat from the growers, decided not to procure even a single grain last season, at the eleventh hour, though the government had been assuring farmers throughout that a purchase policy was being formulated.

Criticise Centre, provinces’ decision not to buy grain........

© Dawn Business