ISLAMABAD   -   Owing to the incentives in­troduced by the government, wheat sowing in the country during the current season (Rabi 2023-24) increased by 7.5 per cent as compared to the crop sowing of the cor­responding period of the last year. During the period under review, wheat sow­ing had been completed over 23.69 million acres as against the set targets of 22.22 mil­lion acres, said Food Security Commissioner In the Ministry of National Food Security and Research Imtiaz Ali Gopang.

The wheat crop has been sown across more than 23.69 million acres of land in vari­ous crop-growing regions during the current season to meet local staple food require­ments and maintain strategic reserves throughout the year, he told APP here on Monday. The wheat cultivation targets fixed for the period under re­view were achieved by 107 per cent as crop sowing in two major grain-producing provinces of Sindh and Pun­jab gained momentum as both the provinces surpassed their assigned targets for the current season, he added. He said that the post-flood phenomenon in Sindh has also contributed to massive wheat sowing as adequate moisture in fields during crop cultivation supplemented the overall area under wheat production, the farmers also switched over from oil seed to wheat crop for its better rate of return. Meanwhile, Punjab which has 76 per cent shares in total wheat sowing has achieved 109 per cent as against its sowing targets due to a well-coordinated wheat cultivation campaign dur­ing the season, he added. He said that the crop sowing has gained momentum across the wheat-producing areas in the country as Punjab province has completed wheat sowing over 103.09 per cent of areas as against the set targets.