SWABI: The wheat harvest is in full swing in Swabi with the farmers praying the weather remains clear for the next two weeks to allow them to complete the harvest, dry up the crop and thresh it without any hassle to be able to have the expected yield.

They feared an adverse weather would badly impact their crop at a very critical time when the crop was fully ripe.

The growers and officials of agriculture department said rain at a time when wheat crop was being harvested would damage the grain.

Alam Sher Gohati, general secretary of Anjuman-i-Kashtkaran, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said farmers across the province were going through an extremely difficult time due to unfavourable weather conditions, which had been over the years affected their yields, putting them in financial dire straits.

Wisal Mohammad, a farmer, said a good wheat yield would not only help him meet his grain needs till the next crop, but he would also be able to sell the leftover to buy farm inputs for other crops.

Leaders of farmers demanded of the government to launch a campaign through agriculture department to educate the farmers about the climate change phenomenon and to take remedial measures.

ARREST: The police have arrested an inter-provincial drug smuggler and recovered one kilogramme ice drug from him, district police officer Najamul Hussain said on Monday.

He said the police had foiled the attempt to smuggle ice drug from Peshawar to Islamabad. “On a tip off, the police erected a blockade near the Swabi Interchange on the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway. When the police signaled a car to stop, the driver tried to speed away, but the police foiled his attempt,” Mr Hussain said, adding the smuggler was identified as Adnan Khan hailing from Mohmand tribal district.

The police have registered a case.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2023