Movement of wheat from Umarkot banned

The administration has imposed a ban on the movement of wheat from Umarkot district as the fresh harvest reached the market and hoarders became active.

Wheat crop was cultivated on thousands of acres of land in Umarkot district this season, according to officials. Harvesting of the ripe crop has already begun and fresh wheat has started arriving in the market.

The Sindh Food Department has set up wheat procurement centres at Kunri, Barani and Muhammad Khan Chandio areas of Umarkot. The department has set a target of procuring 50,000 wheat bags at Kunri, 10,000 bags at Barani, and 10,000 bags at Muhammad Khan centres.

As soon as fresh wheat harvest started reaching the market, the hoarding mafia became active. Hoarders purchase wheat from growers in their fields and stock it up in their warehouses instead of bringing it into the market.

Although fresh wheat harvest has started arriving in the market, there has been no drop in the price of flour which is still being sold for Rs4,800 to Rs5,000 per 40kg.

In order to keep the prices in check and ensure its availability, the Mirpurkhas Division commissioner has placed a ban on the movement of wheat out of Umarkot district through a notification.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 25^th, 2023.