67% wheat procurement target achieved: Food Security Commissioner.

ISLAMABAD -- Wheat procurement target for the crop season 2023-24 has been completed by 67 percent with the grain collection drive full swing across the crop producing areas to meet the domestic requirements of staple food and build its strategic reserves for maintaining demand and supply chain through out the year.

Earlier, the government had fixed wheat procurement targets for the current crop season at 6.8 million metric tons at an official support price of Rs3,900 per 40 kg to ensure a proper rate of return to local farmers across the crop-producing areas in the country, which was revised upward and fixed at 7.800 million tons, Food Security Commissioner in the Ministry of National Food Security and Research Imtiaz Ali Gopang told reporter on Friday.

So far, over 5.262 million tons of wheat has been procured by the respective food departments of the provincial government and Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Supplies Corporation (PASSCO) as against the set targets of 7.800 million tons, he said.

He said that about 81 percent of wheat procurement targets in Punjab Province was achieved as it procured over 3.636 million tons of wheat as against the target of 4.5 million tons.

Meanwhile, Sindh Province has so far...