LAHORE: The Punjab province has surpassed the wheat cultivation target of 16 million acres set for the year 2023-24 by 500,000 acres. Growers have brought 16.5 million acres of land under wheat cultivation during the current season till date, well-placed sources in the Punjab Agriculture Department told Business Recorder on Wednesday.
The sowing target was the same this year as set for the last season when the growers achieved 16.014 million acres. This year the production target had been fixed at 25 million metric tons with the hope of achieving a per acre yield of 40 maund, the sources added.
Discussing reasons behind surpassing the cultivation target, the sources said that last year’s support price was Rs 3,900 per maund but in the open market, it shot over Rs 4,000 per maund. Even the present prevailing prices were around Rs 4,400 to Rs 4,500 per maund. As crops of Kharif season did not get better prices, the growers turned to wheat which was a staple food and had to be eaten by the public. Timely announcement of the support price of Rs 4000 per maund this season also convinced the growers to do their best for achieving sowing target.
They further said that global prices of food commodities were in the phase of correction which went higher during the COVID era. Similarly, cotton crops did not fetch better prices. They said that this year 35 to 40 percent area during rice season was captured by the 1509 variety which matures early so, growers had the time for early sowing of wheat.
Talking about the prospects of achieving production targets, the sources said that indicators were positive to date. He claimed that certified seed was used by the growers while DAP fertilizer application had doubled this season. Admitting the shortage of urea and higher prices of different fertilizers, they said that better rains during October and November had compensated for the urea shortage to some extent. He said water availability had also compensated for the shortage of urea. He said there was a prediction of rain again around December 19, 2023, and hoped that it would further boost the better production of wheat.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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