The government on Thursday fixed the target for wheat production for Rabi 2020-21 at 26.78 million tons by cultivating the crop over 9.16 million hectares across the country.
The target was set in a meeting of Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) held here with Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam in the chair.
The meeting was informed that for the upcoming Rabi season, Indus River System Authority (IRSA) Advisory Committee has anticipated shortfall of 10 percent. During the Rabi season provinces are allocated 33.09 million acre feet (MAF) of water and prevailing weather conditions are supportive and shortage is manageable.
Metrological Department informed that overall 41 percent above normal rainfall reported across the country in July to September, 2020, however, Sindh province received 100 percent above the normal rains, whereas, Balochistan 74 percent Punjab 16 percent, KPK 8 percent, Gilgit Baltistan received 36 percent above normal rains whereas Azad Jammu and Kashmir received 14 percent below normal.
The meeting was further informed that sufficient amount of soil moisture was available for sowing of Rabi crops.
Whether outlook for the period of October to December, 2020 suggest that amount of rainfall will be below normal in agricultural plains of all the provinces.
The meeting was informed that during financial year 2019-20, the agri-lending banks and institutions disbursed Rs 1,215 billion which was 90 percent of the actual target of Rs1,350 billion and 3.5 percent higher than the disbursement of Rs 1,174 billion made during FY 2018-19.
Further, during the first quarter (July to September, 2020-2021) 50 agri-lending institutes including commercial, specialized Micro Finance, Islamic Banks and other Micro Finance Institutes have disbursed Rs 254 billion.
