2019-20 Rabi season: Wheat sowing target missed by 2.5 percent

The country has missed the wheat sowing target by 2.5 percent during 2019-20 Rabi season due to climatic changes and delay in the start of sugarcane crushing by mills.

According to final estimates shared by provincial crop reporting services with Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFS&R) wheat was sown over 8.839 million hectares against the set target of 9.062 million hectares which might affect wheat production target set by the government at 27.03 million tons.

According to officials in Sindh, the second largest wheat producer after Punjab, wheat has sown over an area of 1.115 million hectares against the set target of 1.1500 million hectares. Sindh has missed cultivation target of wheat due to late start of sugarcane crushing in the province, it says.

Punjab, which on average produces 75 percent of the country's wheat, the crop, has sown over an area of 6.564 million hectares against the set target of 6.515 million hectares. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa wheat has been sown over an area of 0.760 million hectares against the set target of 0.802 million hectare.

In Balochhistan province crop has been sown on an area of 0.417 million hectares against set target of 0.550 million hectares. Main reason for lower area under cultivation in Balochistan is due to climatic change, heavy rains and snowfall.

An official of MNFS&R said that decrease in off-take of fertilizers, may affect wheat production. As per report of National Fertilizer Development Centre (NFDC), total availability of Urea in October 2019 was 1.005 million tons whereas total availability of DAP was 0.914 million tons. During October 2019, off-take of Nitrogen and Phosphate was lower by 62.9, 45.4 and 22.9 percent, respectively, as compared to the same period of last year, he said.

According to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) cereal supply and demand brief conducive weather conditions in Pakistan have reinforced expectations that the country's harvest could reach the target of 27 million tons set by the government.