Wheat sowing completed over 22.81 mln acres, sowing targets surpasses 102.67%: Commissioner

ISLAMABAD, Jan 8 (APP): The wheat crop has been sown across more than 22.81 million acres of land in various crop-growing regions during the current Rabi season to meet staple food requirements as well as to maintain strategic reserves throughout the year.

The crop sowing targets for the current season (2023-24) were fixed at 22.22 million acres as the cultivation targets surpassed by 102.67 per cent, said Food Security Commissioner Imtiaz Ali Gopang.

The crop sowing has gained momentum across the wheat-producing areas in the country as Punjab Province has surpassed its wheat sowing targets and completed cultivation of over 103.09 per cent of areas against the set targets, he added.

The Punjab, which is the largest wheat-producing province in the country, has completed crop sowing over 16.48 million acres as compared to the fixed targets of 15.99 million acres during the current season.

Meanwhile, Sindh Province has achieved 106.66 per cent of its targets as wheat cultivation in different divisions of the province was completed over 3.16 million acres as against the set targets of 2.97 million acres, he added.

Meanwhile, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also achieved wheat sowing over 100 per cent of its set targets and crop cultivation was completed over 1.93 million acres as compared to the set targets of 1.93 million acres during the current sowing season, he added.

He informed that according to the Provincial Crop Reporting Services, the Balochistan Province has achieved 100 per cent of wheat sowing targets set for the current season.

In Balochistan the wheat crop was cultivated over 1.24 million acres, he said adding the province was assigned a task to grow wheat over 1.33 million acres during the current season.

The Food Security Commissioner further informed that approximately 729,000 metric tons of high-quality certified wheat seeds would be available to the local farming communities during the current season which comprises over 46 per cent of the total local demand.

In addition to seeds, the government was implementing various strategies to guarantee an ample supply of essential agricultural inputs, such as fertilizers, pesticides and access to finance to achieve the fixed targets of the season, he remarked.