Price of 40kg wheat bag dips by Rs400

LAHORE:

The wheat market in the country's most populous province crashed on Friday after the arrival of wheat from Sindh, where the staple food is harvested earlier than Punjab.

This year crop from Sindh, which normally hits the market by mid-March, got delayed by a fortnight and has just started arriving in the market.

Forty kilogrammes of wheat was sold in Punjab at Rs2,865. However, now that the market has received new supplies, the price of 40kg of wheat has reduced by Rs400 to Rs2,460.

The wheat grown in Punjab is expected to arrive in markets soon, resulting in further reduction in wheat prices to around Rs2,300 to Rs2,200 per 40kg.

In Punjab, the wheat harvest season typically occurs in late spring/early summer, with winter wheat being harvested in late May to early June and spring wheat in August to September.

Wheat is regarded as a stable food in Pakistan where a sizable majority of people consume bread—roti and naan—made from wheat flour.

This season's wheat harvest may face delays due to the fasting month and prolonged cool weather, affecting the already compromised yield. Experts describe the crop's condition as "satisfactory but not healthy". Any delay, experts fear, would lead to shriveling of grain, hitting average yield, and, ultimately, total national production.

"The Punjab Food Department was able to release additional 250,000 tonnes to offset the delay from Sindh and meet demand of its southern part, which normally is fed from Sindh in March," Majid Abdullah - a miller from Lahore – explains.

This arrival was delayed because of the arrival of Eidul Fitr that halted transports activity by a week or so. The millers may not feel any pressure for these delays as official coffers are meeting the demand, but delay in crop maturity would hit the crop and individual farmers, who would suffer yield loss.