FCA establishes targets for major kharif crops in new season
Published on: May 4, 2024.
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KARACHI: The Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) has announced the production targets for major crops for the upcoming kharif season 2024-25. In its meeting held in Islamabad on Wednesday, the FCA set the production targets at 10.8 million bales for cotton, 8.7 million tonnes for rice, 9.3 million tonnes for maize, and 76.7 million tonnes for sugarcane. Additionally, targets for other crops such as mung, mash, and chilies were also established.
Chaired by Minister for National Food Security and Research, Rana Tanveer Hussain, the committee meeting was attended by provincial agricultural departments and key stakeholders. The meeting noted that water availability in canals would be 63.61 million acre-feet (MAF), an increase from last year’s 61.85 MAF. Currently, all provinces are receiving satisfactory water supplies.
The director general of Federal Seed Certification informed the meeting that there will be sufficient availability of rice, maize, sesame, and mung bean seeds as required.
The FCA directed the concerned departments to closely monitor the supply and demand of fertilizers in order to make timely import decisions and meet domestic requirements during the upcoming kharif season.
According to an official from the State Bank of Pakistan, the allocations of institutional credit for agriculture have significantly increased to Rs2,250 billion for 2023-24. As of February 2023, disbursements reached Rs1,073.5bn, which is 59% of the overall annual target of Rs1,819bn and 28.5% higher than the disbursement made during the previous year.
The Meteorological Department informed the FCA that normal to slightly above normal precipitation is expected from April to June in most parts of the country, particularly in upper Punjab from May to July. Above normal precipitation is likely in August and September 2024. The area-weighted normal rainfall of Pakistan during the monsoon season is 140.8 millimeters.
In the review of the outgoing rabi season crops for 2023-24, the committee observed that wheat production is estimated to be 29.69 million tonnes from an area of 9.6 million hectares, marking a 5.4% increase from the previous year.
Source: [Dawn](https://www.dawn.com){:target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”}
