Punjab millers say Passco supplied spoiled wheat
Millers in Pakistan’s Punjab province said that warehouses of the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) are supplying them with spoiled and water-damaged wheat. Passco rejected these allegations. Dawn reports on the dispute between the millers and the corporation.
Millers’ statements
Asim Raza, a leader of the Pakistan Flour Mills Association, said that laboratory tests and inspections allegedly found moisture levels of more than 21% in the supplied grain. According to him, normal wheat moisture should range from 9% to 11%, while millers are required to supply flour with moisture content of no more than 14.5%.
Mill owners claim that processing wheat with such a moisture level results in the production of significantly substandard flour. They also said that the grain has an unpleasant smell and mold, making it unfit for human consumption. The millers’ association saw signs of “administrative financial corruption” in the process, noting that there had recently been no heavy rains or flooding in the region.
According to the millers, they buy wheat from Passco for 3,800 Pakistani rupees per 40 kg, while it costs 4,650 rupees on the open market. Receiving water-damaged grain, according to their calculations, causes additional losses of up to 1,100 rupees per bag.
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Passco and Punjab authorities’ position
An unnamed senior Passco official called the allegations unfounded and said that the real cause of the dispute was fuel costs. According to him, millers want to collect wheat from storage facilities closest to their enterprises, but under its internal policy the corporation must first use stocks from designated warehouses. This, the official said, increases transportation costs, while the authorities are not prepared to pay more than the agreed amount.
He also noted that his agency had concluded the wheat sales agreement with the Punjab government, not with the millers. Representatives of the provincial food authority and the mill are present when a grain batch is handed over, and documents are signed after loading, weighing and confirmation by the buyer.
The official acknowledged that about three weeks earlier there had been a complaint about excessive wheat moisture in the Alipur area, but it was resolved by replacing the batch. According to him, another buyer later collected that grain after it had been dried in the sun for a day.
Amjad Hafeez, director general of Punjab’s food department, also rejected the allegations. He said wheat from Passco is checked on site with digital meters to allow through only clean and dry grain. According to him, the digital meter showed a moisture level of 8.7%.
