PESHAWAR, Nov 9: The government has devised a plan to launch an awareness campaign for farmers and a training programme for its field staff to improve wheat crop yield during the current financial year, according to official sources.
The provincial directorate of agriculture (extension), officials said, would impart best practices about wheat crop and proper use of technology with extra focus on remote parts of the province.
Similarly, the directorate is also working on carrying out a training programme at the field staff level to control weeds helping the farmers to get better per acre yield.
The measures form part of the government's strategy to achieve 1.1 million ton of wheat target for the 2004-05 financial year.
The target appears to be slightly higher than the previous year, when the province had set a target of 1.025 million tons of wheat crop yield.
"The cinema wing of the directorate would show documentary films in the remote parts of the province to disseminate information regarding wheat produce technology," said Amir Mohammed Shah, deputy director of the directorate of agriculture (extension).
In addition to it, he said, arrangements had been made to distribute posters and leaflets among the farmers to help them know best techniques, from sowing to harvesting.
Mr Shah said the government would also hold seminars and workshops, under the integrated research and extension agriculture project, in an effort to achieve the 1.1 million tons wheat target, for which some 800,000 hectares of land would be brought under cultivation in the province.
"There are greater chances that we would be able to achieve the target because of the timely rains in the southern districts of the NWFP this year," said Mr Shah.
Besides, he said, the government had also undertaken moves to ensure provision of good quality fertilizer and seeds at all farm services centres, set up in all the 24 districts of the province.
Officials concerned appeared to be optimistic about the chances of improving wheat yield this time because the farmers belonging to the rain-fed areas had a good opportunity to sow seed in time and bring greater area under wheat crop.
However, some other official sources said that the government would need extra effort to achieve first the target of cultivating wheat crop on 800,000 hectares and then meet the 1.1 million tons wheat target.
Last year, the NWFP had recorded total production of 1.05 million tons of wheat yield and against a target of 785,000 hectares the province had managed to cultivate the crop on 740,000 hectares.