Sowing of sunflower crop over an area of 400,000 acres of land in the Punjab province for the season 2009-10 is all set to start, as necessary preparations in this regard have been finalised. This was claimed by the Provincial Director (Punjab) Pakistan Oilseed Development Board (PODB) Syed Muhammad Nasir Ali while talking to Business Recorder here on Saturday.
He said that last year the target was 3,20,000 acres in the province but it could not be achieved and the area brought under cultivation of sunflower remained at 2,50,000 acres. This year, the Board had set a target of sowing sunflower on an area of 1.2 million acres throughout Pakistan and 0.4 million acres in Punjab. He hoped that this year they would achieve the sowing target. He said that usually sowing of sunflower was started by December 15 in the Punjab province but it is delayed due to late sowing of wheat this year.
However, seed and other inputs are available in abundance and reports from Multan, Rahim Yar Khan, Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur, Kehror Pakka, Ahmadpur East and other such areas confirm that the preparations are final and sowing is about to start,' Nasir added.
'Sowing of sunflower crop would be in the full swing by January 01 and officials, including the provincial director would be taking a tour of all the sunflower sowing areas from next week to supervise the process,' PODB provincial director said. Besides supervising the sowing process, he said he would also hold meetings with the seed marketing companies to ensure provision of quality seeds at affordable rates to the farmers.
It may be mentioned here that the Ministry for Food and Agriculture (Minfa) had fixed the minimum purchase price at Rs 1600 per maund to give a good return to the farmers of their hard labour. He said that the Board would also ensure that the farmers at the end of the day get this support price.
He also claimed that the farmers were happy with this minimum purchase price and making efforts to sow the crop on maximum area. Meanwhile, Director General Agriculture (Extension) Punjab Dr Muhammad Anjum Ali in a letter to all the district agricultural officers has urged that there is a dire need to enhance domestic production on oilseed crops for eliminating/reducing edible oil imports.
Therefore, it is earnestly required to enhance the production of oilseeds on geometrical pace. Since the sowing of Sunflower crop is about to start in Punjab and sowing time for wheat has been exhausted and further sowing of wheat will have a negative impact on per acre yield and net farm income, the letter added.
Consequently, sincere and aggressive efforts are needed for the promotion of Sunflower through the use of all Extension tools and Village Level Farmer Training Programs from first January to end January with a focus on the points which include use of high yielding Hybrid varieties at the rate of 2-2.5 kg/acre (90 percent Germination), Seed bed preparation through Primary and secondary tillage implements.
Sowing in line with RXR = 21/4 to 21/2 Ft. and P*P = 9"(Irri) & 12" Barani. Hoeing and timely destruction of Weeds. Fertiliser at the rate of 2 bags of Urea+1 bag of DAP and one bag of Potash after soil analysis. Four irrigation with one more if situation demands.
Pest management strategy according to pest alerts and given literature. He also urged the agricultural officers to develop a liaison with the PODB to create a synergy for the increase in production and productivity of Sunflower in the Province. Moreover, a lucrative purchase price of Rs 1600/40 kg has also been announced by the Federal Government for the purchase price. Therefore, maximum farmers may be enticed to adopt this crop to increase their income and to reduce the import bill of the Government of Pakistan, the letter concluded.