ISLAMABAD: Agriculture experts, Saturday, called for increasing per acre yield productivity, keeping in view, highly ambitious wheat production target of over 33 million tons expected for the 2023-24 season.

Talking to the media, Khan Faraz, former secretary Pakistan Tobacco Board and agriculture expert said the government needs to focus on increasing per acre yield productivity by enhancing per acre yield, rather than expanding the area under cultivation, which was constrained by scarcity of water.

The primary focus in this connection is to go for vertical growth by enhancing per acre yield.

Although, sown on a large area of the country, there have been crises of the crop shortage in the past whenever the support prices fixed were not considered profitable by the farmers.

According to him, the country is likely to set a highly ambitious wheat production target of above 33 million tons for the 2023-24 season.

It merits a mention that the agriculture sector, which accounts for about a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), has been struggling to meet the demand for wheat, a staple food for more than 240 million people, Khan Faraz maintained.

The expert said that it is necessary to primarily focus to boost productivity by enhancing per acre yield, rather than expanding the area under cultivation, which was constrained by scarcity of water.

It may be added that the primary focus in this connection is to go for vertical growth by enhancing per acre yield.

It will be departure from stereotype approach of maximising area under cultivation, which is simply not possible due to dearth of water for irrigation purposes.

It is worth mentioning that growing demand for increased crop production is one of the significant factors, influencing the decision making by policy makers. For this purpose, enhancing vertical growth is the only practical solution by focusing available area while leaving horizontal growth as a secondary mean to sustain efforts in this direction.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023