FAZAL SHER

ISLAMABAD: The government on Thursday set wheat production target at 27 million tons for Rabi season 2019-20 from an area of 9.2 million hectares of land.

The meeting of the Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) for Rabi season was held presided over by Minister for National Food Security and Research (MNFS&R) Sahibzada Mahboob Sultan. The meeting fixed wheat production target for Rabi season 2019-20 at 27 million tons.

The FCA reviewed the performance of Kharif crops (2019-20) and fixed targets for the Rabi season 2019-20. The meeting also reviewed prices of agriculture inputs including fertilizer, water, seed and pesticides, said a senior official of NBFS&R.

He said that FCA also fixed production targets of other crops including grams at 603,000 tons from an area of 1,012,000 hectares, 10,700 tons lentil from an area of 18,300 hectares, 4,816,000 tons of potato from an area of 196,000 hectares, 2,192,000 tons of onion from an area of 155,000 hectares and 545,000 tons of tomatoes from an area of 45,600 hectares for Rabi season.

The committee also reviewed the performance of Kharif crops for 2019-20 including sugarcane, rice, maize, chilies and Moong.

The official said that the sugarcane production for 2019-20 was estimated at 64.77 million tons from an area of 1,060,000 hectares. Sugarcane production for the year 2019-20 decreased to 64.77 million tons from 67.17 millions of last year, showing a decrease of 3.58 percent, he said.

The rice production for 2019-20 is estimated at 7.7 million tons from an area of 3,036,000 hectares. The area and production increased by 5.5 percent and 3.6 percent respectively from the target fixed by previous FCA. “The rice area increased due to higher domestic prices and availability of inputs on subsidized rates,” he said.

He said that maize production for 2019-20 is estimated at 6.9 million tons from an area of 1,386,460 hectares. The area and production increased by 4.95 percent and 10.05 percent respectively from the target fixed by last FCA. The FCA also proposed that provinces should focus on cultivation of oilseeds and pulses to reduce the import bill, he said.

He said that meeting also discussed the situation of agricultural inputs for Rabi crops (2019-20). The meeting was informed that availability of urea, DAP and fertilizers during the Rabi 2019-20 seems comfortable. All the urea manufacturing plants are operational including the plants located at SNGPL network.

“There will be no shortage of urea during coming Rabi Season. The prices of urea in domestic market have gone up due to the increase in gas prices, inflation and GIDC issue,” the meeting was informed.

The meeting was informed that DAP fertilizer will also be available in the market. Its requirement is mainly met through imported supply which is in handed by of private sector. Price trend is also on the rise. At present, urea price is Rs 2,020 per bag and DAP is being sold at Rs 3,720 per bag, he said.

He said that the meeting was informed that for Rabi 2019-20, IRSA advisory committee has anticipated a shortfall of 15 percent water. During the Rabi season provinces are allocated 31.44 MAF of water. Prevailing weather conditions are supportive and shortage is manageable, he said, adding that Irsa has sensitized the FCA regarding wastage of water in country.

He said that Indus River System Authority (Irsa) informed that storage capacity in 1976 was 15.7 MAF against 13.7 MAF at present despite Mangla raising from 1976 to date.

Representatives of Pakistan Metrological Department (PMD) informed that summer monsoon rains from July-September 2019 remained normal and well distributed allover the country. Due to rainfall received in late September and early October, sufficient amount of soil moisture is available for sowing of Rabi crops. Weather outlook for the period October–December 2019 suggests that amount of rainfall will remain normal in agricultural plains of all the provinces of Pakistan, he said.

He said that the meeting was informed that during the financial year 2018-19, banks achieved the loan target of Rs 1,174 billion against target of Rs 1,250 billion. A total of 4.012 million borrowers were served during financial year 2018-19 by 50 agriculture lending institutes including commercial, specialized, microfinance and Islamic banks and other microfinance institutes.

The meeting was also attended by the representatives of provincial agriculture departments, Irsa, PMD, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd (ZTBL), National Fertilizer Development Center (NFDC), Agriculture Policy Institute (API), Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department, Department of Plant Protection (DPP), Federal Water Management, Pakistan Oil Seed Board, Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Cooperation, senior official of MNFS&R and chairman Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC).