Wheat harvest commences in Sindh

Growers complain about shortage of thrashers.

MIRPURKHAS:

Wheat harvest has begun in different areas of Mirpurkhas, Umerkot and Sanghar districts, coming earlier than other parts of the country.

Growers are, however, complaining about the shortage of thrashers – a farm machine used for separating seeds or grain from the husk and straw – and most of them have booked their crop with private thrashing outlets.

Mirpurkhas Executive District Officer (EDO) for Agriculture Wali Muhammad Bughiyo, while talking to APP, said Mirpurkhas, Umerkot and Sanghar districts will have early crop and this will help in early and easy availability of the commodity in the market.

He said that cultivation on 64,000 hectares in Mirpurkhas and more than 80,000 hectares in Sanghar will lead to a bumper crop of wheat, which would be 10 per cent more than last year.

District Officer of Food Department for Mirpurkhas and Umerkot, Sarang Ram said that complete production will come in the market by the end of March. He said that last year the purchase target for wheat bags was about three million and this year the target is much higher.

Meanwhile, growers have expressed reservations about the returns they receive for their work from the land owners. They urged the government to fix a minimum of 10 maunds of wheat for one acre of land as labour charges for harvest.

Thrasher owners have also raised the rates of wheat thrashing on the plea of a recent hike in fuel cost and other relevant expenses.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2011.