ISLAMABAD: The Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA), increasing the production targets, has set sugarcane target at 68 million tonnes from an area of 1.40m hectares as compared to last year’s production of 63.9m tonnes and rice target at 7m tonnes from an area of 2.8m hectares, whereas for the maize crop, the target is 4.6m tonnes.
Addressing a news conference after the FCA meeting, Minister for National Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan said that production of main crops, including rice, cotton, sugarcane and potatoes had increased. It had helped the government stabilise prices of essential commodities. He was of the view that farmers took a hit due to falling global prices of rice and cotton.
As far as irrigation water is concerned, the meeting was informed that availability of water would be satisfactory except for some areas of Sindh.
The Met Office reported the IRSA data that water levels in the reservoirs were better as compared to last year. Additionally, the Met Office was optimistic about prospects of rains in all parts of the country. The committee was informed that the availability of certified seeds had increased during the Kharif sowing season.
Wheat production has been estimated at 25.03m tonnes from an area of 9.17m hectares. The revised estimates have reduced the production target from 25.48m tonnes in view of slight damage to wheat crop owing to freak weather conditions. The current production of gram crops has been estimated at 4.2m tonnes.
