ISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday set a wheat production target at 32.2 million tons for the Rabi Season 2023-2024 from an area of 8.9 million hectares of land.
The decision to this effect was taken by the Federal Committee of Agriculture (FCA) meeting for Rabi season presided over by Caretaker Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research (MNF&R) Dr Kauser Abdullah Malik.
According to a senior official, the FCA was informed that cotton production for 2023-24 was estimated at 11.5 million bales from an area of 2.4 million hectares, showing an increase of 126.6 percent in production over the last year.
Sindh, Punjab to face water shortage in Rabi season
The committee reviewed the performance of the Kharif Crops (2023-24) and set production targets for Rabi Crops (2023-2024), he said.
The official said the meeting also fixed production targets for other crops including grams at 4.1 million tons, potato at 60330 thousand tons, onion at 2,494 thousand tons, and tomato at 666 thousand tons.
The official said the meeting also reviewed the performance of the Kharif Crops (2023-24) and was informed that rice production for 2023-24 is estimated at 8.64 million tons from an area of 3.35 million hectares showing an increase of 12.7 percent and 18 percent in area and production respectively over the last year.
Sugarcane production for 2023-24 is estimated at 78.5 million tons from an area of 1.7 million hectares showing a decrease of 10.74 percent and 10.9 percent in area and production respectively over the targets fixed by the FCA.
Similarly, Mung bean production for 2023-24 is estimated at 143.6 thousand tons from an area of 198 thousand hectares, Maash production for 2023-24 is estimated at 5.28 thousand tons from an area of 7.36 thousand hectares and chillies production is estimated at 1.36 thousand tons form an area of 122.1 thousand hectares.
He said the meeting also discussed seed availability for Rabi crops and it was informed by the Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department (FSC&RD) that certified seed availability for Rabi Crops will remain satisfactory. He said that for Rabi 2022-23, the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) advisory committee has anticipated a shortfall of 15 percent.
The meeting was further informed that during the Rabi season, provinces are allocated 31.66 MAF of water. Prevailing weather conditions were supportive and the shortage was manageable, he said.
The official said the Pakistan Metrological Department (PMD) informed the meeting that overall, normal to slightly above normal rains were expected in most parts of the country particularly over northwestern regions.
The PMD informed the meeting that the temperature might remain above normal in most parts of the country. The meeting was also attended by the representatives of provincial agriculture departments, IRSA, PMD, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd (ZTBL), National Fertilizer Development Centre (NFDC), Agriculture Policy Institute (API), Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department, Department of Plant Protection (DPP), Federal Water Management, Pakistan Oil Seed Board, Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Cooperation, senior official of the MNFS&R, and chairman Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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