Lahore:

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

This year, crop from Sindh, which usually hits the market in mid -March, was delayed by two weeks and has just begun to arrive on the market.

Forty kg of wheat was sold in Punjab for RS2.865. But now that the market has received new supplies, the price of 40 kg of wheat is reduced by RS400 to RS2.460.

The wheat grown in Punjab is expected to arrive in the markets soon, resulting in further reduction in wheat prices to around RS2.300 to RS2,200 per year. 40 kg.

In Punjab, the wheat harvest season typically occurs at the end of spring/early summer, where winter wheat is harvested in late May to early June and spring wheat in August to September.

Wheat is considered a stable food in Pakistan, where a significant majority of people eat bread – Roti and Naan – made of wheat flour.

This season’s wheat harvest faces delays due to the regular month and prolonged cool weather, which affects the already compromised yield. Experts describe the condition of the crop as “satisfactory but not healthy”. Any delay, experts fearing would lead to shrinking grain, hitting average yield and ultimately total national production.

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

This arrival was delayed due to the arrival of Eidul Fitr who stopped the transport activity by a week or so. Millers may feel no pressure for these delays as official boxes meet demand, but delay of crop maturity would hit the crop and the individual farmers who would suffer a loss of yield.