April 13, 2020: The Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) would meet during the last week of the current month (April) to set the targets of Kharif crops and review the output of Rabi crops during the season.

The high powered committee on agriculture would take stock of output of Rabi crops including wheat, pulses, oilseeds, and situation of other minors crop of the season, besides fixing the cultivation targets of Kharif crops like cotton, maize, sugarcane, and rice, said an official in the Ministry of National Food Security and Research.

Talking to APP here on Monday, he said due to prevailing circumstance, the meeting would be held in three stages through video link from all the provincial headquarters.

He said the committee would also fix production targets of other minor crops including pulses, chilies, and vegetables to fulfill the domestic requirements as well as for exporting the commodities.

The meeting would be presided over by Minister for National Food Security and Research, while representatives of the food and agriculture departments of all four provinces, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir would also attend it and present their respective proposals, crop cultivation plan and areas for different crop production during the season, he added.

Meanwhile, the representatives of other concerned departments including Indus River System Authority (IRSA), Pakistan Meteorological Department would apprise the meeting about the water availability for irrigation and weather forecast during the season, he said adding that the representatives of State Bank of Pakistan, National Bank, Zari Taraqiatie Bank, and other banks would inform the meeting regarding the credit allocation for farmers during the season.

This year, the FCA would pay special focus on the cotton crop as the government was keen to enhance the output of all major crops including wheat, rice, maize, and sugarcane, he said, adding it had allocated special funds to increase the production of these crops.

To enhance the per-acre cotton output, the government would provide Rs400 million subsidy to farmers on the import of PB Rope from the current sowing season, he added.

The amount is being allocated to enhance per-acre cotton output across the crop sowing areas of the country by minimizing the pest attacks particularly the Pink Bollworm.

It may be recalled that the output of this major crop has been witnessing a declining trend for the last many years due to different reasons including the use of conventional methods of cultivation, use of noncertified seeds and pest attacks which not only provided financial losses to growers but also discouraged them to sow the crop.

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