ISLAMABAD, Feb 4: The ongoing spell of cold weather and rains is having a good impact on wheat crops in lower Sindh and the government estimates that the province is in a position to achieve this year’s target of 3 million tons.

Agriculture Development Commissioner of the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) Qadir Bukhsh Baloch told Dawn on Monday the cold wave was keeping the mercury down in lower Sindh and helping the grain to further grow before harvest that was likely to begin early next month.

He said chilly wind improved the chances of a better crop in lower Sindh, where most of the sowing had been completed in November. Even a few more days of low temperatures would have a positive impact on the crops. Meanwhile, the Metrological Department forecast dry weather amid cold-wave conditions and germination in Sindh for the next four to five days.

The Minfal had made a presentation to the Federal Food Committee last week and expressed the hope that the province would be able to achieve this season’s wheat target.

Minfal’s latest figures show that wheat has been sown on 0.95 million hectares in Sindh with a production target of 0.98 million tons, which is 3 pc less than the target area but more than last year’s achieved sowing, which was 0.92 million hectares.

According to Minfal’s estimates, 7 per cent of wheat crop will be harvested in the province from the end of this month to the middle of March. Some 221,292 tons of wheat is expected from the 68,097 hectares which will be harvested during this period in Tharparkar, Mirpurkhas, Umer Kot, Badin, Thatta, Karachi, Sanghar and Tando Allah Yar.

The crop will help improve the wheat supplies and storage position in the province where, according to the Federal Food Committee, the ex-mill rate of flour is still higher than in the rest of the country, although the Sindh Food Department thinks otherwise.

About 22 per cent of wheat crop in Sindh is expected to be harvested from the middle of March to April 15, with an initial production estimate of 0.67 million tons.

The Minfal estimates that crops on 205,143 hectares will be harvested during this period in Tharparkar, Mirpurkhas, Umer Kot, Badin, Thatta, Karachi, Sanghar, Tando Allah Yar, Hyderabad, Randi M. Khan, Jamshoro, Matiari and Nawabshah.

But the bulk of the crop (71 per cent) is expected to be harvested from the middle of April onwards with a production estimate of 2.22 million tons.

Some 0.68 million hectares of wheat crop is expected to be harvested during this period in Gotki, Sukkur, Naushahro Feroz, Khairpur, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Larkana, Qamber and Dadu.