Punjab’s Finance Minister said today that the farmers have sold almost all their wheat crop to middleman.

Talking about not purchasing the wheat crop from farmers in the province, Mujtaba Shuja ur Rehman said that the federal government had purchased 3.2 million metric tonnes of wheat in the caretaker setup.

“We still have 2.3 mln metric tonnes of wheat and this decision didn’t harm the farmer,” provincial finance minister said. He claimed that the farmers have sold all their crop production, and the middleman has purchased the wheat.

“The wheat’s rate has also not drastically dropped and sold at 3,200 to 3,300 rupees per maund,” provincial minister said. “This rate didn’t harm the farmer but definitely their profit has dropped,” finance minister said.

He said that the decision of non-procurement of wheat from farmers has slashed the price hike in Punjab.