Pakistan's Punjab approaching another flour crisis: Reports

The food department in most districts of the eastern province have run out of the commodity’s stock and the new crop yield is still four to five months away, reports The News International.

Local media reported the failure to increase wheat production per acre, and alleged corruption and mismanagement in wheat procurement as well as storage at the government level has raised fears of another wheat flour crisis in Pakistan.

Flour mill owners are also shutting down mills due to the rising cost of rent because of the procurement of government wheat from other districts, reports said.

The News International reported quoting agricultural experts that it was not possible to overcome the flour crisis in the country without increasing acreage and subsidizing farmers.

Apart from this, there is corruption in the procurement of sacks and other expenses incurred by the Food Department for the storage of wheat, Pak media outlet reported.

In this regard, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have been proposing to the Pakistan government for many years that the Food and Market Committees be abolished as they are a burden on the national exchequer, reports The News International.