ISLAMABAD: The Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) fixed wheat production target for rabi 2020-21 at 26.78 million tonnes with a cultivation area of 9.16m hectares.

The high-powered committee, chaired by Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhr Imam, also set production targets for rabi crops including gram and potatoes.

Wheat production target for Punjab has been set at 20m tonnes from an area of 6.56m hectares, while Sindh is estimated to grow 3.95m tonnes on 1.15m hectares. The target for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is set at 1.60m tonnes from 900,000 hectares while Balochistan is expected to produce 1.22m from 550,000 hectares. Average yield per hectares is set at 520kg per hectare.

The FCA meeting discussed in detail seed availability situation for rabi crops. Federal Seed Certification & Research Department DG Masood Qamar Qureshi informed the meeting that the availability of seed for the rabi season will remain satisfactory.

FCA estimates country will reap 26.78m tonnes of wheat

“We are planting the seeds of a new agro economy. We are in dire need of increasing wheat production,” the minister said during the meeting.

However, the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) advisory committee anticipated a shortfall of irrigation water during the rabi season. Provinces have been allocated 33.09 million acre feet (MAF) of water during the 2020 rabi season. The prevailing weather conditions are supportive and shortage will be manageable, FCA was informed.

The FCA also set the production targets for gram, potato, onion and tomato at 0.56m, 4.87m, 2.22m and 0.625m tonnes respectively during the rabi season.

The FCA was informed that during the upcoming rabi 2020-21 season — which runs from October to March — supply of urea and DAP fertilisers is expected to remain stable.

Pakistan Metrological Department informed the meeting that above normal rainfall of overall 41 per cent was reported across the country in July to September.

The committee also reviewed the performance of the kharif crops and was informed that sugarcane production for 2020-21 is estimated at 75.64m tonnes from an area of 1.17m hectares showing an increase of 12.97pc and 13.96pc in area and production respectively over the last year.

The target for cotton production for 2020-21 has been set at 8.44m bales against the target of 9.150m bales in 2019-20, showing a decline of 7.7pc production and a decline of area under cultivation of 11.9pc.

Rice production for 2020-21 is estimated at 8.18m tonnes from an area of 3.3m hectares showing an increase of 11.43pc and 10.39pc in area and production respectively over the last year.

Maize production for 2020-21 is estimated at 7.8m tonnes from an area of 1.3m hectares. The production of maize remained stable during the year.

Moong production is estimated at 0.208m tonnes for FY21 from 0.228m hectares. This increase in production saved more than $91.2m as import substitute.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2020