A 2-member delegation of Kissan Board Pakistan led by its Senior Vice President Mian Farooq Ahmed and Central Secretary-General Shaukat Ali Chadhar met with Punjab Minister for Food Samiuallah Chaudhry here on Thursday. Food Director Wajid Ali Shah was also present on the occasion.
Minister Samiuallah Chaudhry told the meeting that the provincial government did not want to put the burden on end consumers by increasing the support prices of sugarcane and wheat.
The government intended to fix the rate of sugar by the third party according to the ratio of per acre yield production of sugarcane and cost.
On the instructions of the provincial government, the Food Department has safeguarded the rights of sugarcane and wheat farmers. Cultivators have been able to get the full price of their crops timely and steps have been taken to protect them from the exploitation of the middlemen he added. The minister said that we have achieved the target of procuring 33 lac metric ton wheat from the farmers and going to reduce the price of flour.
Punjab government was introducing Kissan Card for the welfare of the cultivators. Practical suggestions of Kissan Board Pakistan would be considered by the Food Department, Samiullah Chaudhry added. Earlier, the delegation demanded to fix the support price of sugarcane at Rs 250 per mound and wheat at Rs 1500 per mound.
