ISLAMABAD: The whereabouts of an estimated 4.5 million tonnes of wheat produced in Punjab have become the subject of official concern after the issue surfaced during a high-level meeting on wheat procurement, according to media reports and official sources.
The development comes as both the federal and provincial governments continue to struggle with wheat procurement under the country’s revised policy framework, raising fresh questions over market regulation and the effectiveness of private-sector-led procurement.
According to media reports,, the issue emerged during a meeting attended by senior federal and provincial officials, where a senior Punjab government representative reportedly asked officials from other provinces whether the missing wheat stocks had been transported outside Punjab.
Officials from the other provinces said they were unaware of any such movement and instead suggested that large quantities of wheat may have been hoarded by private traders.
Sources said the government had fixed the wheat procurement price at Rs3,500 per maund for the season. However, private buyers reportedly stayed away from purchasing wheat at the official rate, arguing that it was commercially unviable.
Under the current procurement policy, Punjab entrusted wheat purchasing largely to the private sector instead of carrying out large-scale government procurement. Private traders had reportedly sought bank financing to facilitate purchases during the harvesting season.
Despite the official support mechanism, wheat prices at the start of the season climbed to around Rs4,500 per maund in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to sources.
Officials believe this price disparity encouraged middlemen and hoarders to buy wheat directly from farmers at around Rs2,800 per maund before storing large quantities in anticipation of higher market prices later in the year.
Interestingly, the reported disappearance of millions of tonnes of wheat has intensified concerns over stock monitoring, market manipulation and food security, with officials expected to further investigate the movement and storage of wheat across the country.
The development has also drawn comparisons with Sindh, where allegations of wheat hoarding, missing stocks and irregularities in procurement and storage have surfaced repeatedly over the years.
Agricultural market observers say the latest controversy suggests that practices long associated with Sindh’s wheat trade may no longer be confined to one province, raising fears that similar patterns have emerged in Punjab.
Neither the federal government nor the Punjab government has so far issued an official statement confirming the alleged disappearance of the wheat stocks or outlining the findings of the high-level meeting.
