Though rains cast shadow on wheat crop, situation under control: officials

ISLAMABAD: Ongoing rainy spell in the country in Punjab and Sindh will negatively impact on the wheat crop which is ready for harvesting but the situation is under control and the production likely to remain in the range of 27.5 to 28.5 million tonnes, government officials and experts told Business Recorder.

“The wheat crop in Punjab and Sindh is ready for harvest and though the ongoing rainy spell is harmful yet given that February was very dry and relatively hot the soil has absorbed the rainfall,” Dr Anjum Buttar, Member Punjab Agriculture Research Board told this correspondent. He emphasised that the Punjab farmers’ loss till now is not likely to exceed one percent of their total production.

Dr Anjum Buttar said the canals are at present either dry or have very little water and this allowed the farmers to easily drain out the rainy water from the crops. However he cautioned that if the rainy spell is prolonged the situation may change especially as canals will start receiving water from upcountry within a week or two. “Normally glaciers start melting from April onwards and that increases the flow of water in canals,” he added.

Khalid Khokar Chairman Pakistan Kissan Itthehad concurred and stated that so far rains had hardly done any serious damage to the wheat crop in Punjab. He said the farmers are likely to achieve the target of 22.5 million tonnes set by the Punjab government. However he said that the mango crop was badly damaged by the recent rains and hailstorm adding that the extent of the damage to mango crop would be quantified once the rainy spell is over. He contended that the ongoing rainy spell has positively impacted on sugarcane and cotton crop.

Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) headed by Minister for National Food Security and Research, Rana Tanveer Hussain set the wheat production target at 29.678 million tonnes in order to meet domestic requirements as well as sustain strategic reserves. He acknowledged that both provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab achieved their targets.

The meeting fixed the production targets for gram, potato, onion, and tomato at 39300, 8916000 and 2788000 and 659000 thousand tonnes respectively.

The Committee estimated sugarcane production at 84.7 million tonnes. Rice production for 2025-26 is estimated at 9.417 million tonnes and mung bean production is estimated at 150.8 thousand tonnes.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026