CHAKWAL: A resident of Lawa, which is 103 kilometre from Chakwal City, 65-year-old Mohammad Iqbal says he was able to grow 40 maunds of wheat on one acre of land last year but could only cultivate 15 maunds from the same land this year.

However, Mr Iqbal is one of the few farmers who were able to cultivate the crop at all as most farmers in Talgang and Lawa were not able to do so due to the lack of moisture in the land during the end of October and the beginning of November, which is sowing season in the Potohar region.

An official of the Punjab Agriculture Department said the sowing target was not achieved in Talagang, Lawa, Fatehjang, Chakwal, Kallar Kahar, Choa Saidan Shah, Gujjar Khan, Kallar Syedan and Rawalpindi as well as in Jhelum and Attock.

Farming in the Potohar region is dependent on rain and the area is considered a pluvial region. Wheat is its most important crop and more than 70pc of the rural population is involved in agriculture.

Wheat harvesting is at its peak this time of the year, according to agriculture experts, wheat yield in the region has gone down by 30pc this year.

“Talagang and Lawa are going to have half the usual wheat production because it experiences less rainfall than the other areas in the Potohar region. Last year, there was a drought like situation,” said Rai Mohammad Yasin, deputy director agriculture in Chakwal.

“The wheat crop in Chakwal is satisfactory though,” he added.

The Chakwal district agriculture department had fixed a sowing target of 307,000 acres for the district but wheat could only be cultivated on 283,000 acres. The growth of this is also going to be affected due to lesser rains.

The production of other Rabi crops has also been adversely affected in the Potohar region.

The Chakwal authorities had aimed for 48,370 acres of land to be sowed with mustard, which was only sown on 32,500 acres.

Gram was only cultivated on 25,400 acres when the target was set at 33,780 acres.

Lentil crops witnessed an increase with crops being sowed on 8,120 acres against the set target of 7,991 acres.

“This has happened due to climate change,” explained Dr Mohammad Khalid, assistant director technical agriculture.

He added that the recent rains and hailstorms had also damaged crops in the Potohar region, especially in Kallar Syedan.

Farmers of the area said the government should establish more dams and make existing ones more effective so land can be irrigated.

“Former President Asif Ali Zardari had launched the Ghambir Dam project near Lawa on which work has not yet been started. This dam was supposed to change the fate of the area but it turns out the rulers make promises they do not want to keep,” Mohammad Iqbal said.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2017