HE sowing of the wheat crop has started in Sindh amidst reports that the support price of Rs1,300/40kg may remain unchanged, apparently in view of crop stocks held by the Sindh food department, estimated at 1.26m tonnes, that will last till November 2016.

The provincial agriculture department has proposed to the provincial government a sowing target unchanged at 1,150,000ha against last year`s actual sowing of 1,154,556ha. With subsidised inputs farmers and agriculture department officers have not ruled out a surplus production of grain in 2016-17.

In the 2015-16 seasons, the official figures show 3.83m metric tonne of wheat was produced against the target of 4.2m tonne.

A 50kg bag of diammonium phosphate fertiliser (DAP), as growers confirm, is being sold at Rs2,550-2,600 and urea fertiliser at Rs1,400, eversince subsidy was announced by the federal government.

`We [Sindh government] have been informed that enough fertiliser stock is available to provide 8-10pc over and above the provincial fertiliser uptake for wheat cultivation. Sindh`s fertiliser requirement for Rabi crops is assessed at 727,600 metric tonnes`, says an agriculture department officer.

Farmers are not in a haste to buy fertiliser considering their easy availability in the market. On an average a sum of Rs27,000-30,000 is required per acre for wheat cultivation right from the sowing to the thrashing stage. This is inclusive of land preparation, certified seed, one bag of DAP and three bags of urea, besides labour charges for harvesting.

Growers are presently preparing for wheat sowing in land that has been freed of the sugarcane crop. Landunder sugarcane will start becoming gradually available for wheat cultivation after Nov 15, a date mutually agreed by government, farmers and factory owners to start cane crushing for the 2016-17 season.

Technically, the winter crop season starts from Oct 1 and the summer crop season commences from April 1; that`s why veteran grower, Abdul Majeed Nizamani feels wheat sowing from Nov 15 means a 45-day delay, which in turn would lower per acre yield.

Farmers believe November is an ideal time for wheat sowing. Average per acre wheat yield is usually estimated at 35-40 maunds in Sindh although Nizamani claims that he obtained 83.75 maunds from his irrigated land with better farm practices. `This shows our soil has the potential of producing more grain if farmers improve their farm practices and the government`s subsidy on input continues`, he says.

With official storage capacity standing at 700,000 tonnes, rest of the grain is stocked in rented premises. The food department is likely to set a wheat procurement target of 1.1m tonnes. It obtains loans for holding the stock from the State Bank of Pakistan.

Sindh`s Food Director Bachal Rahupoto says unless storage capacity is enhanced and modernised, silos which control moisture of grain will need to be built. He adds that the food department is recommending to the federal government that it promote alternate winter crops. `Higher support price has encouraged farmers to have more and more wheat production`, he says.

Nizamani also says, `The same land can be used for oilseed crops to save foreign exchange on edible oil import.

He said sunflower cultivation, which has emerged as a better alternate, has declined drastically; a trend that should be arrested.