RAWALPINDI, Nov 13: Wheat sowing in the Barani areas of Rawalpindi district during the current Rabi season is feared to be affected due to adverse weather conditions as there has been no rains in this part of the country for more than two months.

Barani or rain-fed areas of the Potohar region are totally dependent on rains for the both Rabi and Kharif crops. Agricultural experts say the Barani land has dried up and is in dire need of rainfall. On the other hand, Pakistan Meteorological Department expects no rains over next ten days.

According to the Met office, winter rainfall usually happens in January to March, however scattered rainfall also occurs in the month of December in the mountainous regions. Small dams play an important role in the agricultural development of the Barani areas.

According to latest statistics, less than 10 percent of total crop output is produced from the rain-fed areas of Punjab. This low productivity that affects 18.6 percent of the Punjab total cultivated area is further constraining an already low national agricultural growth.

With suitable topography and rainfall, the best potential option appears to be the development of water storage through the construction of small and medium dams. Previous experiences, however, show that the construction of the dams in the Barani areas needs to be carried out through an integrated approach to get the potential economic benefits fully.

From the current situation, it is evident that the coverage of the Barani areas through small dams will be inadequate. There are some 31 small dams in the Barani areas, and the Punjab government is working on a project to build at least ten more small dams.

While wheat sowing has already started in some areas of the province, the provincial administration is heavily occupied with public meetings of the chief minister, and it has not yet finalised the wheat policy of the province. Sources privy to the Punjab Agriculture Department say the government has not communicated wheat targets to all the district agriculture departments.

Chaudhry Ijaz Iqbal, a progressive farmer, told Dawn that the dry weather was badly affecting the wheat sowing campaign in the Barani areas of Rawalpindi district. Wheat seeds already sown are likely to be affected in case there is no rains in the coming days, he added.

The Agriculture Department in Rawalpindi will launch a campaign throughout the district from November 15 to December 31 to create awareness among farmers about wheat production techniques. About 25 teams have been constituted which will visit rural areas of the Barani areas and brief them about the application of fertilisers and certified wheat seeds.

During the last Rabi season, wheat was sown over an area of 334,000 acres in the Barani areas of Rawalpindi district. The area produced 320,600 metric tons of wheat which was considered as a bumper crop after several years. The average yield per acre last year was 24 mounds per acre.

There are six tehsils in the Barani areas of Rawalpindi district - Rawalpindi, Gujar Khan, Taxila, Kahuta, Murree and Kotli Satian.