Punjab decides to enhance wheat cultivation area

LAHORE : Punjab has decided to bring greater area under wheat cultivation and fixed the target at 16.5 million acres this year.

This was informed in a meeting of Provincial Steering Committee on wheat which was held here at Agriculture House on Saturday under the chairmanship of Secretary Agriculture Punjab Iftikhar Ali Sahoo on Saturday. Speaking on the occasion, Sahoo stressed that all resources and means would be used to achieve the goal of wheat cultivation target.

He said timely sowing of wheat crop is guaranteed for increase in per acre yield. This year the price of the certified seeds of the approved varieties of the wheat department has been reduced by 2 thousand rupees per bag compared to last year so that the farmers can use the certified seeds on maximum area.

The secretary said Chief Minister Punjab Kisan Card is being activated from October 15 for purchasing of wheat inputs.

So far, 1.1 million farmers have been registered for Kisan Card. Through Kisan Card, farmers will be able to buy timely agricultural inputs from more than 2,500 registered dealers across the province under the interest-free loan scheme for wheat crop, he said.

The secretary said that divisional and district committees have been formed to achieve the target of wheat cultivation and production.

Wheat farmers should be informed about the importance of certified seeds and balanced fertilizers. For timely supply of water, the coordination of Irrigation and Agriculture departments should be strengthened. The target of wheat cultivation should be ensured in any case, he added.

In the meeting, Additional Secretary Agriculture (Task Force) Shabir Ahmed, Director General Agriculture Extension Chaudhry Abdul Hameed, Director General Agricultural Information Punjab Naveed. Asmat Kahloon, Director General Crop Reporting Punjab Dr Abdul Qayyum, Director Wheat Ayub Agricultural Research Institute Faisalabad Dr Javed and other senior officers along with other stakeholders from the private sector participated while all the divisional directors agriculture (Extension) attended meeting online.