Wheat sowing surpasses 22m acres in rabi season

January 15, 2024 (MLN): The wheat crop has been sown across more than 22.73 million acres of land in various crop-growing regions during the Rabi season 2023-24 to meet staple food requirements and maintain strategic reserves throughout the year, as APP reported.

The crop sowing targets for the current season (2023-24) were fixed at 22.22m acres as the cultivation targets till the end of the second week of the current month were achieved by 2.03x, said Food Security Commissioner Imtiaz Ali Gopang.

He said that the crop sowing has gained momentum across the wheat-producing areas in the country as Punjab Province has completed wheat sowing over 2.03x of areas as against the set targets.

The Punjab, which is the largest wheat-producing province in the country, has completed crop sowing over 16.48m acres compared to the fixed targets of 15.99m acres during the current season.

Meanwhile, Sindh Province has achieved 2.07x of its targets as wheat cultivation in different divisions of the province was completed over 3.16m acres as against the set targets of 2.97m acres, he added.

Meanwhile, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also achieved wheat sowing targets by 100%, and crop cultivation was completed over 1.93m acres as compared to the set targets of 1.93m acres during the current sowing season, he added.

He informed that according to the Provincial Crop Reporting Services, the Balochistan Province has achieved 100 percent of wheat sowing targets set for the current season.

In Baluchistan the wheat crop was cultivated over 1.93m acres, he said adding 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.

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