Punjab Minister for Agriculture Malik Ahmad Ali Aulakh warned that scarcity of water and high prices of agricultural inputs could badly hit wheat sowing; he also claimed that the Punjab is likely to get another bumper wheat crop.
"New dams like Kalabagh dam have become inevitable in this situation but the Federal Government badly failed to evolve national consensus on this important issue," he said while addressing a news conference. He said that 80 new varieties were introduced during the last four years. He added that a target of sowing wheat on 16.8 million acres was set for the current year and it was expected that 9.2 million ton crop would be reaped. He said that the Punjab government made an all-out arrangement to ensure availability of fertilisers during wheat sowing. He said that a special drive was being launched to convince farmers to sow wheat early.
He pointed out that the farmer is not in a position to sow wheat because of poor condition of cotton market. "If the cotton growers are given even Rs 3,000 per maund, the situation of wheat sowing will improve in Punjab," he added. He said that agriculture is the backbone of national economy but the Federal Government neglected this sector during last four years.
He told the journalists that the Federal Government did not hold even a single meeting with the agriculture ministers or chief ministers of the provinces for evolving agro policy. He pointed out that both Mangla and Tarbela dams are unfilled while their water storage capacity also declined due to silt.
He said that the Punjab government had set up a new department for power generation. "We're planning to switch to the solar system while work on hydro-power projects is also underway as surveys are being conducted at Taunsa and other spots," he added. He said that another project to install 1,500 bio gas plants was also launched and an institute was being set up in Faisalabad in this regard.
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