SARGODHA - Deputy Director Food Allah Ditta Saqib said that a target of 286,000 metric tonnes of wheat procurement had been set in Sargodha division this year.
Talking to media here on Tuesday, he said that 96,000 metric tonnes wheat procurement target in Sargodha district, 20,000 metric tonnes in Khushab, 60,000 metric tonnes in Mianwali and 111,000 metric tonnes of wheat purchase target were set in district Bhakkar.
“36 wheat procurement centres were set up in four districts, including 13 in Sargodha district, 03 in Khushab district, 06 in Mianwali and 14 in Bhakkar district,” he said.
The deputy director food department said current year, the official price of wheat had been fixed at 9,750 rupees per 100-kg, while the farmer would have to pay delivery charges of Rs60 per sack.
He said that the food department had more than 100 percent stock of gunny bags and the supply of the bags to the farmers would continue until the target was completed.
Allah Ditta Saqib said that the crackdown on wheat hoarders and smugglers was ongoing across the division and during an operation at Sial Morr, the food department foiled the bid of smuggling of 40 tonnes of sacks of wheat loaded on two trucks and seized wheat had been transported to the procurement centre in Sargodha.
Comprehensive measures had also been taken to make the role of commission agents and middlemen inactive, he added.