Punjab, Sindh meet sowing target

Minister stresses challenges should be addressed timely to stay on track

ISLAMABAD:

Punjab has achieved almost the entire wheat plantation target this season by cultivating the crop over 99% of the targeted area.

Sindh has closely followed, meeting 98% of the sowing target for the staple crop of wheat. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) has reached 85% of the goal while Balochistan stands at 80%. This was revealed in a meeting of the wheat review committee, chaired by Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam, which took stock of the crop sowing situation in the 2021-22 season. Representatives of provinces were present in the huddle.

The food security minister emphasised that the purpose of the meeting was to monitor progress and ensure that the assigned crop plantation targets were met.

Calling the sowing period the most critical, he said that any issues arising in the process should be addressed timely in order to stay on track. Earlier, meetings of the review committee were held twice a year and now due to increased focus on agriculture, regular monitoring is being done through weekly meetings.

Imam was briefed that Punjab met 99% of the revised sowing target of 16.67 million acres as the crop had been planted on 16.575 million acres of land.

Punjab agriculture secretary said that water availability was an inhibiting factor, adding that the province was working on improving its track and trace system for seeds.

Sindh’s director technical said that the province had reached 98% of the assigned sowing target of 2.99 million acres while K-P Agriculture Secretary Israr Ahmed said that the province had met 85% of the target of 1.89 million acres.

Balochistan DG Agriculture Extension Masood Baloch said that the province had touched 80% of the assigned target of 1.1 million acres.

Pointing to the scarcity of rains, K-P and Balochistan representatives said that the absence of rainfall could adversely affect the overall sowing target in the two provinces, however, if showers came, then the target would be achieved.

There was general consensus that certified seeds were adequately available. However, high prices and unavailability of urea were considered a challenge.

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The minister was briefed that high prices of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) resulted in low consumption of the fertiliser.

Imam pointed out that a few parameters had been set to ensure that wheat crop sowing was monitored effectively.

These parameters include but are not limited to sowing area and completion percentage of the target, sowing method (drilling or broadcasting), quantum of fertiliser (DAP and urea) used during sowing, use of certified seeds, use of seed varieties (old or new rust-tolerant varieties), availability of herbicides and fertiliser as well as pricing status.

The minister assured meeting participants that necessary steps would be taken immediately to ensure ample supply and availability of the factors of production.

Urea supplies

Meanwhile, Minister for Industries and Production Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar presided over the weekly fertiliser review meeting as part of efforts to meet the requirement of fertiliser in the current Rabi sowing season. Commerce Adviser Abdul Razak Dawood was present in the sitting.

The meeting reviewed the supply chain and production by fertiliser plants.

Industry representatives said that the output of plants had increased, which was evident from up to 20,000 tons of average urea production a day.

Provincial departments briefed the meeting about the punitive measures taken against hoarders and profiteers, which resulted in a significant reduction in urea prices close to the notified price of Rs1,768 per bag.

After extensive deliberations, the minister asked the industry to increase urea supplies by 30%, ie by about 3,000-5,000 tons across the country, to ease pressure on the market.

He stressed that fertiliser plants would be operated at full capacity till January-February 2022. He told the Petroleum Division to ensure the supply of gas to urea plants as per the revised gas supply priority order.

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The minister commended efforts of the industry to ensure adequate supply of urea across the country.

He noted that agricultural policies of the government had not only helped increase urea production but also resulted in lower urea prices as compared to the global market. “This will reflect in higher production of crops and income of farmers.”

Furthermore, it was reiterated that the government and industry would continue to monitor the situation to avoid any market disturbance.

The meeting concluded with guidelines for the industry to devise modalities for a smooth urea supply chain in order to address any anomalies as well as expedite media campaigns for the awareness of farmers so that they did not engage in panic buying and register complaints of overcharging and hoarding in their localities.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2021.

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