ISLAMABAD: The Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) was informed on Thursday that wheat production in the country during the current season (2023–24) grew by 5.4 percent as compared to the output of the corresponding period of the last year.

The FCA met here with Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain in chair, which was also attended by the relevant federal and provincial authorities.

While reviewing the performance of the Rabi crops (2023–24), the Committee observed that wheat production for the current season was estimated at 29.69 million tons as the crop was sown over an area of 9.6 million hectares.

The output of other crops, including onions, for the period under review was estimated at 1.92 million tons from an area of 0.122 million hectares.

The increase in production was 3.9%, whereas the area decreased 5.4% over the last year, whereas tomato production during the season was estimated at 627.47 thousand tons from an area of 50.9 thousand hectares.

The production of the above-mentioned commodity increased by 3.9%, whereas the area decreased by 0.3% over the last year.

Meanwhile, potato production for 2023–24 was estimated at 8.1 million tons from an area of 0.3 million hectares. The increase in production was 27.9% over the target assigned by the last FCA.

The FCA held detailed deliberations over the production targets for essential Kharif crops in 2024–25 and decided to fix the production target of cotton at 10.8 million bales, whereas the 8.7 million-ton production target for rice is over 3.1 million hectares of land.

The maize target was fixed at 9.3 million tons of production over 1.5 million hectares of land.

The Committee also fixed the production target of sugarcane for 2024–25 at 76.7 million tons over an area of 1.3 million hectares.

The targets for other crops such as mung, mash, and chilies were also fixed in the meeting of the high-powered committee.

Pondering over the availability of agricultural inputs for Kharif crops (2024), the water availability in canals head will remain 63.61 million acres feet (MAF) as against last year, which was 61.85 MAF.

At present, all the provinces are getting satisfactory supplies in the system, it was informed.

The meteorological department informed us that during April to June 2024, normal to slightly above-normal precipitation is expected in most parts of the country, particularly in upper Punjab, during the season May to July 2024.

It was further informed that a tendency toward above-normal precipitation is likely to prevail in the months of August and September 2024.

Area-weighted normal rain fall in Pakistan during the monsoon season was 140.8 mm. It is also informed that sufficient water will be available for irrigation and power sectors.

The Director General of the of the Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department (FSC&RD) informed the house that seeds of rice, maize, sesame, and mung bean will remain available as per requirement.

The representative from the State Bank of Pakistan informed me that allocations of institutional credit for agriculture had substantially increased to Rs. 2,250 billion for 2023–24.

The disbursement up to February 2023 was Rs. 1,073.5 billion, which was 59% of the overall annual target of Rs 1819 billion, which was 28.5% higher than the disbursement of Rs 835.3 billion made during last year.

The FCA directed the relevant departments to remain vigilant to balance the supply and demand situation of fertilizer for a quick decision to make imports to meet domestic requirements during the coming kharif season.

The committee expressed satisfaction over the food security situation in the country, however, and emphasized the need for research and development as well as better coordination to consolidate the gains and ensure further progress in the sector.

Addressing the meeting, Rana Tanveer Hussain stressed the need to enhance domestic agricultural production through increased productivity per acre.

“While the availability of food commodities in the country is generally satisfactory, affordability remains a major issue for the poor segments of society,” he remarked.

Pakistan, he said, had immense production potential in the agriculture, livestock, and fisheries sectors, thus averting the challenge of hunger.

“However, for sustainable economic growth and prosperity, efficient utilization of production resources by adopting modern technologies, establishing realistic marketing systems, and minimizing trade barriers are of fundamental importance,” he added.

The minister said Pakistan was facing natural crises due to climate change, making the agriculture sector a priority for the government.

To stabilize the food security situation, the government was making efforts to assist farmers by providing inputs at affordable prices and ensuring better prices for their produce to bridge the gap between production costs and output prices in favor of farmers, he added.

Rana Tanveer said, “The government envisions enhancing agriculture-based economic growth to benefit the poor and promoting nutrition-sensitive practices to reduce various forms of malnutrition.”