ISLAMABAD, Feb 26: The ongoing wet spell has raised government hopes about achieving the wheat production target of 22 million tons.

“These rains will have a positive effect on wheat crop besides ensuring better grain size,” said Agriculture Development Commissioner of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock Qadar Bakhsh Baloch on Sunday.

He said that rains had ended the ongoing dry spell besides lowering the above average temperatures in harvest areas. An increase in temperature before the end of March hampered normal grain growth besides casting a grim shadow over the country’s overall grain production, he said.

A decrease in temperature in March could enable the government to achieve its wheat target for the season, which could only be possible if the wet season stretched at least till the end of March, he said.

The rains had also given farmers an opportunity to use nitrogen-based fertilisers that would provide a further increase in wheat production, he said. He said that the farmers were strongly urged to give another dose of fertiliser to their crops.

Last year, he said, the government had increased its wheat target of 21.6million tons. Last year, wheat was sown on an area covering 8.5234 million hectares, while this year wheat had been sown on 8.364million hectares.

Wheat harvest had started in March last year in low-lying areas like Hyderabad, Lowari and Sanghar, while in other areas, it started in April, Mr Baloch said. Agriculture experts had voiced fears about an unexpected increase in temperature all over the country earlier this month and had warned that it could lower the country’s overall wheat production.