Pakistan. ‘Punjab likely to achieve wheat production target’

Punjab is likely to achieve wheat production target this year as it is estimated that the province will get a production of 18.6 million tons with an average yield of 3.89 maund per acre. This was informed to the Punjab’s caretaker Minister for Agriculture Qaiser Zulfikar in a meeting held at the Agriculture House here on Monday.

The meeting was attended by the Director General (Extension) Dr Anjum Ali, Director General Agriculture (Irrigation) Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf and officers from pest warning and supply chain improvement. The meeting was also informed that cotton sowing in the province had been completed over an area of 288,000 acres of land. While the growers were provided 700 laser land levelling units. Dr Anjum Ali said that on average wheat was sown on an area of 16.8 million acres of land, sugarcane on 1.87 million acres, rice on 4.3 million acres, maize on 1.5 million acres and gram on 2.4 million acres of land.

It was also informed that 10,048 tractors were provided to young men under the scheme of promotion of mechanised agriculture in the province. It was also informed that work on a five-year project to promote hi-efficiency irrigation technology under which drip and sprinkle irrigation would be installed on an area of 120,000 acres of land, 9000 water courses would be improved while 3000 laser land levellers would be provided on subsidy.