April 06, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 28, 1429

LAHORE, April 5: Farmers expect the wheat production for this year to increase by half a million to one million tons in the central and northern Punjab as most parts of the province experienced widespread rainfall on Saturday ahead of the harvest that normally begins from the middle of April.

“The current rainfall is extremely good for most areas in the central and northern parts of the province where wheat was sown belatedly and the crop is still not ready for harvest,” AgriForum Pakistan Chairman Ibrahim Mughal told Dawn.

He said the rain would not impact upon the crop size in the southern parts of the province where wheat was sown on time.

The wheat belt in the central and northern parts of Punjab produces almost 60 per cent of the total crop output obtained from the province. Punjab contributes almost 80 per cent to the country’s total wheat supplies.

Mr Mughal said the rainfall could have caused huge damage to wheat output had it been accompanied by strong winds and hailstorm. “The grain size will grow in weight if the current rainfall is not followed by strong winds,” he added. He was hopeful that the crop in the southern parts of the province, almost ready for harvest, would also not be hurt by the recent rains unless it is hit by strong winds.The provincial agriculture officials too said the current rainfall was good for the crop. They said they had not received report of any damage to the crop in any part of the province.

The bad weather had raised the spectre of heavy damage to the wheat crop in some circles. The crop is already feared to fall far short of the official target of 24 million tons for this year due to late sowing, reduced use of phosphoric fertilisers, lesser area brought under cultivation and late announcement of increase in the wheat procurement price.

The farmers and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Livestock believe that the country will have to import at least two million tons of wheat for meeting its domestic needs. The possibility of better wheat crop size means that the country would spend less on its import and also help improve the growth numbers this year.