SWABI: Farmers here have said that any further delay in rainfall would have worst impact on wheat yield in rain-fed areas of the district in the upcoming year.

Wheat is the largest Rabi crop of the district sown in September-October and harvested in May-June each year.

Talking to this scribe, the farmers said that agriculture across the arid land of the district depended on rain and all the activities to cultivate different crops, especially wheat, revolved round it.

In case of no rain in the next week or so the farmers would be under tremendous pressure whether to sow wheat or not.`We are perturbed and don`t know how to deal with the drought-like situation,` said Gohar Ali of Gohati. He said that they had planned to cultivate wheat over 100 acres in Baraki area.

The farmers said that there was no alternative arrangement to irrigate the arid land and if there was no rainfall there would be no wheat crop.

Rawaiz Khan, 50, a resident of Chota Lahor city, said that if the peak time for cultivation was missed because of no rains the local farmers would suffer financial losses.

Liaquat Yousafzai, general secretary of Kashtkar Coordination Council, said that if there was low yield the ultimate sufferers would be the farmers.

He said that no one would come for their financial help despite the sloganraised by the lawmakers that Pakistan was an agricultural country.

TEACHERS ATTENDANCE: The provincial government has installed biometric system in the higher secondary schoolsandcollegeshereinthe district to regulate attendance of teachers.

Sources said that the initiative was aimed at boosting teaching activities in educational institutions. `The provincial government wants to discourage absenteeism and achieve its goals in the education sector under the slogan of change,` said a college principal.

The biometric system has also been introduced in the Bacha Khan Medical Complex, Shahmansoor, district headquarters hospital and civil hospitals of Topi and Kalu Khan.