Indus River System Authority (Irsa) has further increased water releases from Tarbela dam to River Indus by 8,000 cusecs to accelerate sowing of Rabi crops including wheat, grams, lentils, maize, sunflower, vegetables, fodder etc in the country.
According to 21st November rivers flows and reservoirs level report of Water and Power Development Authority, IRSA is discharging 1,15,400 cusecs water in the vast irrigation system across the country for sowing wheat and other crops. It is releasing 68,800 cusecs water from Tarbela dam, 32,000 cusecs from Mangla dam while river Kabul is contributing 8,800 cusecs and river Chenab 6,600 cusecs to the water available for sowing the winter crops.
Director General Punjab Agriculture Extension Services Dr Anjum Ali told Business Recorder that till 20th November wheat was sown over 43 percent crop target area in the irrigated areas and 87 percent in the rain fed Barani areas of the province. He hoped that wheat sowing over 16.9 million acres would be completed by 20th December, though it would be late sowing resulting in lower per acre yield.
Dr Ali confirmed that due to increase in the prices of fertilisers, specially DAP, along with the other input prices, there has been 51 percent decrease in the use of DAP fertiliser. Another agronomist and President Pakistan Agri Forum Ibrahim Mughal said that wheat sowing was very slow as compared to previous years for the farmers seem to be reluctant to cultivate wheat crop due to substantial increase in the input costs and the government's apathy to the agriculture sector.
He said the farmers had to buy diesel oil at Rs 94 per liter to run their tractors and tube-wells, 50 kg bag of DAP at Rs 4,300 and urea fertiliser at Rs 1800 plus which has made their cost of production very high as compared to market price of wheat.
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