Pakistan achieves 92.77% of wheat sowing target, cultivating over 20m acres

December 11, 2023 (MLN): The wheat crop cultivation target has been achieved at 92.77%, with the commodity sown across more than 20.62 million acres of land in various crop-growing regions, compared to the target of 22.23m acres for the current Rabi season,  Food Security Commissioner Imtiaz Ali Gopang told APP.

The commissioner said that the crop sowing was in full swing across the wheat-producing areas in the country as Punjab Province has surpassed its wheat sowing targets and completed cultivation of over 2.01x areas against the set targets.

Punjab, which is the largest wheat-producing province of the country has completed crop sowing over 16.16m acres as compared to the fixed targets of 16m acres during the current season, he said adding that more areas to come under crop cultivation during the days to come.

Meanwhile, Sindh Province has achieved 87.54% of its targets as wheat cultivation in different divisions of the province was completed over 2.60m acres as against the set targets of 2.97m acres, he added.

So far, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has achieved wheat sowing over 96.87% of its set targets and crop cultivation was completed over 1.86 acres as compared to the set targets of 1.93m acres during the current sowing season.

He informed the wheat cultivation data from the Balochistan Province was still awaited, stating that the province was assigned a task to grow wheat over 1.33m acres during the current season.

The Food Security Commissioner further informed that approximately 729,000 metric tons of high-quality certified wheat seeds would be available to the local farming communities during the current season which comprises over 46% of the total local demand.

In addition to seeds, the government was implementing various strategies to guarantee an ample supply of essential agricultural inputs, such as fertilizers, pesticides and access to finance to achieve the fixed targets of the season, he remarked.

To ensure the smooth supply of fertilizers at affordable prices across the country, the government has launched an anti-hoarding campaign, besides taking stern measures to curb the smuggling of commodities including wheat, sugar and fertilizers, he added.

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