'Rains have positive effect on crops'

The recent timely rains in central and northern Punjab had a very positive effect on the Kharif crops including rice, sugarcane, cotton, fodder, vegetables etc, Director General Agriculture Extension services, Dr Anjum Ali told Business Recorder, here on Thursday.
He said that paddy (rice) has been planted over 4.2 million acres in the province due to sufficient availability of canal and rainwater in the fields. Dr Ali said that water consuming sugarcane crop was sown over 1.6 million acres in the province and after these rains condition of the crop has significantly improved. He said that it has been their good luck that there were not heavy rains in the cotton growing areas of South Punjab and the weather has been very conducive for the cotton crop. He said that the cotton crop had been sown over 6 million acres which is so far safe from the dangerous pest attacks.
He said all the field staff of the agriculture extension services kept an eye on the growth and maturity of the crops at this critical stage and hoped that Punjab would achieve all the agriculture production targets of the Kharif crops if there was not an abnormal atmospheric phenomenon.
Another agronomist, Ibrahim Mughal, President Agri-Forum also described the present spell of rains as very beneficial for the crops specially at a time when urea was in short supply. He said these monsoon rains in the central and northern Punjab in mid-August have given tremendous boost to the agriculture, which is the backbone of the country's economy.
Mughal said these rains have provided enough moisture in the 2.3 million acres Barani areas of Rawalpindi division that farmers would be able to sow wheat, mustard, oil seeds and fodder crops next month. Similarly, he said these timely rains have watered the citrus fruit orchards at the flowering time to produce more than 2.3 million tons of citrus, specially exportable Kinno this year. He said that vital maize crop has been sown over 1.3 million acres which is also at the stage of maturity and needed water.