Punjab Agriculture Department (PAD) has once again advised the growers to complete wheat sowing by November 15, to get maximum per acre yield and achieve the production target of 19 million tons of wheat which set by the provincial government for the current season.
In an advisory issued here on Thursday, PAD said that the target for area to be brought under cultivation of wheat has been set at 16.5 million acres and to achieve the targets growers have to adopt a comprehensive policy of timely sowing, proper application of fertilisers, and eradication of weeds and efficient use of water. Moreover, growers have to ensure usage of healthy seeds through seed grading method.
The department experts said that growers should only use progressive and approved varieties of wheat seeds having germination ratio of 85 percent or they have to increase the ratio of seed application per acre. They said that best time to get maximum per acre yield is to sow wheat from November 1 to 15, as according to a research of extension and adoptive research wing of the department crop sown after this time suffers a loss of one per cent at the ratio of one percent per day.
Experts said that progressive and approved varieties of seeds are available at the depots of the Punjab Seed Corporation and its dealers and farmers should take advantage of this facility to use disease free certified seeds only. According to the experts, growers can sow wheat crop in standing cotton fields if they fear that sowing might delay due to cotton crop still standing in the fields.
Through another advisory, experts asked the growers to sow canola/mustard crop with wheat and balanced use of fertilisers to avoid attack of aphid. A spokesman of the department said that aphid attack on wheat crop is increasing for last many years. This is a sucking pest and plants get weak because of its attack causing damage to growth and production both.