LAHORE: Arrival of winter rains at the crucial juncture of Rabi cultivation in the country’s food growing regions would likely spur the sowing of wheat.
The spell of rain in the last 24 hours in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been seen as a good omen for wheat cultivation. So far so good, an official said, adding that it was expected that whole country, including Sindh and Balochistan would receive a gentle shower in the next couple of days. The crop-nourishing mild rain would also help provide much-needed nitrogen from air besides ensuring moisture at the early stage of crop, he observed.
According to the MET Office, following is the data of rains recorded in the last 24 hours: Punjab (mm): Murree 36, Rawalpindi 27, Islamabad 24, Chakwal 20, Bhakkar 08, Attock , Mangala 7, Layyah 5, Jhelum, Noorpur Thal, Joharabad 2. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Malam Jabba 32, Pattan 27, Balakot 25, Kakul 18, Cherat 11, Peshawar, Kalam 10, Dir (Upper 9, Lower 7) , Bannu 7, DI Khan 7, Saidu Sharif 5, Drosh, Mardan 4, Bacha Khan Airport, Mirkhani 3, Parachinar 2, Chitral 1, Kashmir: Garhi Dupatta 28, Rawal Kot 25, Muzaffarabad 21, Kotli 12, Gilgit-Baltistan: Hunza 8, Astor 7, Bagrot 6, Babu Sir 4, Gilgit 2, Chilas, Gupis 1, Balochistan: Khuzdar 4, Chaman, Zhob 2, Samungli 1, Sindh: Karachi and Thatta 2.
Official was of the view that present rainfall would ensure wheat and gram sowing in rain-fed areas also. Rainfall would help lesson impact of canal water shortage.
Reduction in wheat cultivation areas was feared on account of water shortage. However, apart from the arrival of rains, the announcement of a relief package for farmers also gave a positive signal to the farming community, which might help achieve the wheat sowing target of 16.5 million acres.
As per latest figures, wheat sowing in Punjab has been completed over 13.9 percent area and the crop cultivation witnessed about 0.1 percent increase against the cultivation during the corresponding period of last year. By the first week of current month (November), wheat crop sowing completed over 2,257 thousand acres as against the set targets of 16,220 thousand acres fixed for crop season 2022-23, said an official in the Ministry of National Food Security and Research.
He said according to data provided by the crop reporting department of Punjab, wheat sowing was gaining momentum in rain-fed areas of northern Punjab due to timely rains and favourable weather conditions, where it was achieved on 12.1 percent of target area.
In the southern part of the province, it was completed on over 16.6 percent as against the set targets. The sowing data from other provinces was awaited and it was expected that it would be received by the next week, which would depict the overall sowing scenario, the official said.
Early sowing in rain-fed areas would help boost overall sowing and achieve the set target of the season. Meanwhile, he informed that the government had announced a special package of Rs1,800 billion to promote and develop the local agriculture sector, particularly restoring and reviving agriculture in flood-affected areas by ensuring the provision of free seeds, access to credit, besides reducing the prices of fertilisers and electricity for tube wells.
He further informed that the Ministry of National Food Security and Research in collaboration with provincial governmentswould also provide over 3.183 million bags of certified wheat seeds to the farmers of floods affected areas. This would help ensure maximum sowing of the major cash crop of the season to revive the agriculture sector, and avert the impact of the catastrophe in the country.
The ministry would begin distribution of free wheat seeds to the farmers of flood-hit areas from November 10. In this regard, a digital application has been developed to deliver and distribute seeds in a transparent and efficient manner.
Each seed bag would comprise 50kg of different approved verities, while the cost of the scheme amounts to Rs17.16 billion. “The scheme covers about 78 percent of areas affected due to floods and torrential rains during the current monsoon season,” he added.
The official further apprised that about 4.04 million acres of agricultural land in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces was affected due to floods. A committee was also formed to review the situation and evolve a mechanism to ensure all possible incentives for the restoration of agriculture and livestock sector in these areas.
Out of the total allocated seed bags, about 50,000 bags would be distributed among the affected farmers of Punjab, and 2.44 million bags would be provided to growers from the affected areas of Sindh.
Over 10,000 wheat seed bags would be provided to the farmers belonging to affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, whereas 690,000 seed bags would be delivered to farmers of Balochistan province, he added.
It should be mentioned here that the Federal Committee on Agriculture had set a target to cultivate wheat crop over 9.250 million hectares during the current Rabi season to produce about 28.370 million tonnes of wheat. This should fulfil the domestic demand, while also allow the country to export the surplus.