Wheat sowing completed over 99.63% areas, crop sown over 22.14 mln acres: Commissioner

ISLAMABAD, Dec 22 (APP): The wheat crop has been sown across more than 22.14 million acres of land in various crop-growing regions during the current Rabi season in order to meet staple food requirements as well as to maintain strategic reserves throughout the year. The crop sowing targets for the current season (2023-24) were fixed at 22.23 million acres as the cultivation targets achieved by 99.63 per cent, said Food Security Commissioner Imtiaz Ali Gopang on Friday.

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 103.08 per cent of areas against the set targets, he added. The Punjab, which is the largest wheat-producing province of the country, has completed crop sowing over 16.48 million acres as compared to the fixed targets of 16.00 million 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 94.76 per cent of its targets as wheat cultivation in different divisions of the province was completed over 2.82 million acres as against the set targets of 2.97 million acres, he added.

So far the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has achieved wheat sowing over 98.72 per cent of its set targets and crop cultivation was completed over 1.90 million acres as compared to the set targets of 1.93 million acres during the current sowing season, he added. He informed that according to the Provincial Crop Reporting Services, the wheat cultivation in Balochistan Province was completed over 0.94 million acres, adding that the province was assigned a task to grow wheat over 1.33 million 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 per cent 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.