Oct 22 , 2015
News
Govt sets 26m tonne wheat production target for 2015-16
By Ijaz KakakhelISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday fixed wheat production target of 26 million tonnes for 2015-16, the same target as last year because surplus wheat stocks and difficulties in its exports due to lower prices at international market.
The decision was taken during Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) meeting held on Wednesay, while Minister of National Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan presided it. After meeting, the minister told journalists that for Rabi 2015-16 season, the committee has fixed wheat production target at 26 million tonnes from an area of 8.980 million hectares due to surplus wheat stock and difficulties in export of the commodity due to depressed prices of wheat in the international market and enhanced wheat supplies at global level.
“Out of 26 million tonnes, Punjab will produce 19.5 million tonnes, Sindh 4.2 million tonnes, Khyber Pakhtukhwa (KP) 1.4 million tonnes and Balochistan 0.9 million tonnes.” he said.
About the wheat stock in the country, he said that country has 8.695 million tonnes wheat stock and last year it was 6.951 million tonnes in the same period.
The minister said that certified wheat seed availability would be 26.1 percent of the total seed requirement of the crop in 2015-16, while during 2014-15 total seed availability was 34.6 percent of the total seed requirement for the corp. Bosan said that the FAC also fixed production target of other corps including gram, lentil, onion and potato. He said that committee was informed that irrigation water availability position for current Rabi season (2015-16) was estimated at 25.27 million acres feet (MAF) as against the average usage of 23.67 MAF for the season. The committee also discussed the position of supply of agriculture inputs for the Rabi crops, he said. He said that the provincial representatives of Agriculture Department emphasised that adequate supply of urea, phosphatic fertilisers during December and January was crucial for achieving the said target.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk