98 percent wheat sowing target achieved despite dry weather

Despite the prevailing dry weather spell, about 98 percent wheat sowing target for the year 2009-10 has been achieved in the country. An official in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Minfa) told APP here on Thursday that the total area under wheat cultivation was increased by 0.8 percent as compared to the area under crop production, during same period last.
The Punjab province has achieved 100 percent wheat sowing targets set for the year 2009-10 as the crop was cultivated over 6.841 million hectares of land during the current sowing season, as against the set targets of 6.836 million hectare, he added.
He said that wheat crop was cultivated over 8.842 million hectares of land up to last week of the current month. However, he said, that the total area under wheat cultivation in Punjab was decreased by 0.77 percent when it was compared with the area during 2008-09. The Sindh province achieved the 95 percent of set targets as wheat was sown over 0.977 million hectares of land, as against the set target of 1.031 million hectares, he said. The total area, under wheat production in Sindh, was increased by 2 percent when it was compared with same period of last year, he said.
He further said that about 0.977 million hectares of land was put under wheat production in NWFP as against the set target of 0.769 million hectares, achieving 95 percent of the task. In NWFP, he said that total area under wheat cultivation was increased by 4.5 percent as compared to the total area under crop, during last year. Balochistan achieved 90 percent of the set target as the crop was cultivated over 0.333 million hectares, as against 0.409 million hectares of the targeted land.
He informed that the crop was cultivated over 8.842 million hectares as against the set targets of 9.045 million hectare across the country, as about 98 percent of the set target was achieved. Overall area under the wheat cultivation increased by 0.8 percent, as compared to the last year, he added.
The official informed that the final figures would be available by mid of the current month, as more data is yet to be received from the field. He expressed hope that the forecasted rains, from the next week, would bring positive results and expected that the shortfall in the set area would further be narrowed.