Wheat yield less than last year’s: Sialkot, Narowal
SIALKOT, May 18: Wheat yield in Sialkot and Narowal district was 40 per cent less than the last year due to rains and nonconducive weather. Sialkot district food controller Rohail Butt said at a press conference here on Wednesday.
He said the food department had held a survey in both the districts which revealed that the heavy rains and bad weather damaged standing wheat crop.
He said wheat was cultivated on 467,000 acres of land in Sialkot, Daska, Sambrial and Pasrur tehsils. The food department had fixed a procurement target of 1.5 million bags of 100 kilograms wheat from Sialkot district.
Mr Butt said the department has so far purchased only 310,000 bags worth Rs320 million.
“Last year, Sialkot district had achieved the procurement target, but this year we are unable to even reach near it,” he said.
BAHAWALPUR: About 1.2 million tonnes of wheat has so far been procured in the Bahawalpur district.
Out of this, around one million metric ton has been procured by flour mills, which are authorized by the Food department. For this purpose, the banks have advanced loans to them.
While the Food department has procured over 160,000 metric tons of wheat as against the target of 190,000 metric ton.
District Food Controller Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor told Dawn on Wednesday that the Bahawalpur district was leading in wheat procurement in Punjab.
He said the remaining about 30,000 tons of wheat would be procured within next few days.