DADU, April 1: More than seven million tonnes of wheat stocked in piles in the open across Dadu and Jamshoro districts risks getting damaged in rains if the food department fails to distribute gunny bags and lift it in time.

Farmers complained the department had failed to start a wheat procurement drive in Dadu, Mehar, Khairpur Nathan Shah, Johi, Sehwan, Majhand and Kotri in both the districts, compelling growers to sell their hard-earned produce at much cheaper rates than the official price.

The president of the Dadu chapter of Sindh Abadgar Board, Dharam Das, said that more than seven million tonnes of wheat was lying in fields in the open across the two districts but the office of district food controller had not yet started the procurement drive and distribution of gunny bags.

Taking undue advantage of the delay, grain traders were buying wheat from farmers at between Rs2,700 and Rs2,800 per bag of 100 kg and hoarding it in their godowns to sell it later to the food department at the official rate of Rs3,000 per 100 kg bag, he said.

He urged the caretaker Sindh chief minister to take notice of irregularities in the food department and direct the minister for food to take action against corrupt officers. Besides, the department be ordered to immediately supply gunny bags to small growers, he suggested.

Another SAB office-bearer, Omar Jamali, said that last year, the food department had set up 40 procurement centres in Dadu and Jamshoro and fixed procurement target at 2.2 million bags. But this year, according to reliable sources, the department had brought down the target from 2.2 million to 1.9 million bags, still the officials were not ready to start procurement, he said.

The president of the Johi growers association, Ghulam Qadir Rind, said that Johi was one of the areas in the province which produced good quality and early-season wheat but food officials had not found time to visit his area and supply gunny bags to farmers.He said the food officials had fixed price of a gunny bag at Rs210 and they were collecting money from traders to supply them bags in Johi and its adjoining areas.

The chairman of the Dadu chapter of the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture, Ghulam Ali Shahani, said that growers were facing huge losses by selling their produce to grain traders at much lower prices.

In case of rain, the huge stocks of wheat lying in the open in various parts of Aminiani, Moundar, Shahpanjo, Chhinni, Jhallo, Khudabad, Phulji, Sita, Khairpur Nathan Shah, Ghozo, Radhan, Fareedabad, Mado, Nau Goath, Mehar, Arazi, Talti, Bhan Sehwan, Sann, Laky Shah Saddar, Manjhand, Lakha, Kotri and Thana Bula Khan would be spoiled and the food department would be responsible for the loss, he said.

He said the food department had announced it would start purchasing wheat from growers on April 1 but farmers had not yet been provided any gunny bag.

A grower of Katcho area, Abdul Ghaffar Khero, said that he had stored about 10,000 bagfuls of wheat in the open on his field which he wanted to sell to the food department.

He had been visiting the office of the food department in Dadu for over a month but failed to meet the food controller who did not attend office, he said.

As a result, he did not get even a single gunny bag from the food department.

The deputy director of the Hyderabad region of the food department, Gul Magsi, said that a policy had been declared by the food department to purchase wheat from growers and supply them gunny bags.

The department would start purchasing wheat within 24 hours, he claimed.

He said the food department officials were waiting only for orders from the food secretary to start the procurement campaign.

Meehan Khan, a grower of Moundar area near Dadu, said that three DFCs, Rahool Kora Jamlani, Qamaruddin Memon and Mohammad Ali Channar, were transferred within a space of 15 days over various reasons while the current DFC Nasraullah Chandio did not attend office, leaving growers to fend for themselves alone.

A small grower of Khairpur Nathan Shah, Anwar Syal, said that Ghozo area was the worst affected in supper flood of 2010 and flash rains 2011 and 2012 but growers rehabilitated it against all odds and cultivated wheat after bearing huge expenses. But now, food officials were not ready to purchase their hard earned produce, he said.

He said that the ministry of food and the secretary of food did not pay attention to large-scale corruption by food officials in Dadu and appealed to the chief justice of the Supreme Court to take action against the corrupt officers and direct the chief minister to ensure that farmers were supplied gunny bags and wheat was purchased from them at the official price.

He demanded action against the grain traders who had hoarded wheat and were smuggling it to Afghanistan, Karachi and other parts of the country in connivance with food officials.

Dadu Deputy Commissioner Nasir Abbas Soomro said that he had directed food officials to furnish him with a list of wheat procurement centres in the district after receiving complaints from small growers.

He admitted the officials had not yet set up any procurement centre although wheat harvest season had set in.

He said that he had tasked the additional deputy commissioner with monitoring the process of wheat procurement and investigating irregularities and also planned to meet the district food controller at his office on Tuesday in this connection.

If he found any irregularity he would take action and send a report to the Sindh government, recommending legal action against delinquent officers, he said.