ISLAMABAD: The Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) has fixed the wheat production target of 26.01 million tonnes for the 2016-17 Rabi season.
In a meeting on Tuesday, the committee headed by Minister for National Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan was informed that there will be 6 per cent less irrigation water supply during the Rabi season. However, this shortage will have no adverse impact on the Rabi crops, Mr Bosan told a news conference after the meeting.
The committee did not discuss the issue of the support price. Mr Bosan said the ministry is not interested in enhancing the support price. Instead of increasing it, measures are being taken to reduce the cost of production, which is the best solution, he added.
The final estimate for the 2015-16 wheat production is 25.4m tonnes against the earlier target of 25.8m tonnes.
Mr Bosan said the government’s relief package for farmers has yielded good results. In the last season, the application of fertilisers has increased with a positive impact on the Kharif crops, as sugarcane and maize recorded a rise in production.
The irrigation water availability position for the Rabi season is estimated to be 30.34m acre-feet against the average usage of 36.3m acre-feet for the season.
The meteorological department has informed the committee that less rainfall is expected in the October-December period whereas above-normal rainfall is expected in February-March, he said.
In response to a question, the minister said the minor shortage of water during the season will be overcome through better water management. Since there is no immediate need for water for the Rabi crop, the Punjab government has announced the closure of canals for 15 days.
Referring to the cotton production, he explained economic factors were the main reason for the last year’s losses. While prices were low, the cost of production was high, he said, adding that farmers are getting a higher profit this year due to better prices.
In Punjab, the loss to the cotton production was 24pc while it recorded an increase of about 5pc in Sindh, he said.
The minister said the country exported 100,000 tonnes of mangos this year, as there has been no rejection of any consignment from any country. Last year, the country exported 70,000 tonnes of mangos. The largest recipients of mango consignments from Pakistan were Iran, Japan, South Korea and Australia in addition to several European Union and Middle Eastern countries.
Mr Bosan said the State Bank of Pakistan has informed the committee that the target for agricultural loans in 2016-17 has been enhanced to Rs700 billion from Rs600bn last year.
He said that the country had a bumper potato crop last year. Against the requirement of 3m tonnes, Pakistan produced 3.8m tonnes of potatoes. The target for the upcoming potato season is 3.8m tonnes, he said.
The committee also set targets for other crops such as gram, lentil, onion and tomato.
The committee was informed that the certified wheat seed availability during the upcoming Rabi season will be 35.9pc, maize 44pc and moong 71pc of the requirements. The supply of urea and diammonium phosphate (DAP) will remain satisfactory for the 2016-17 Rabi season, the committee was informed.
Published in Dawn October 26th, 2016