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FCA may keep cotton acreage at 2.983mha for next Karif crop

RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: The federal committee on agriculture is (FCA) likely to keep the acreage and production of cotton for the next Kharif crop at 2.983 million hectares and 11.239 million bales respectively set for the fiscal 1999-2000, it is reliably learnt.

Official sources attributed this owing to the increase of 2.1 percent in acreage of cotton in 1999-2000 recorded at 2.983 million hectares as compared with 2.922 million hectares during the corresponding period last year. The production target set for the current fiscal was set at 11.239 million bales, which recorded a 27.9 percent increase as compared with the production of 8.790 million bales during the fiscal 1998-99.

The agenda of the FCA meeting attributes this to less attack of pest, diseases and attractive market prices received by the growers during 1998-99 which resulted in the increase of acreage and better measures adopted by growers against pest and diseases.

SUGARCANE

The FCA is also like to keep the sugarcane acreage and production targets at the level set for 1999-2000. The sugarcane production during this year has been estimated at 46.290 million tonnes from an acreage of 1.014 million hectares. The sugarcane production decreased by 21 percent (46.290 million tonnes) over the last year achievement of 55.700 million tonnes.

The acreage decreased by 13 percent from last years acreage of 1.166 million hectares, which was 1.4 percent above the target.

The report gives the low productivity of sugarcane crop during the current fiscal due to the shifting of area to other Kharif crops as well as persistent drought.

The report suggests that the increase in production has to come through improvement in productivity rather than the increase in area as land and water resources are limited. Therefore, greater efforts have to be made to increase the yield of sugarcane per unit area.

The report also stresses that the provincial governments may be asked to accelerate research on the release of new varieties through selection as well as artificial manipulation of the genetic resources.

RICE

The FCA agenda asks to keep the acreage and production target of rice for the next Kharif at the same target of 1999-2000 as the rice production exceeded target of 4.965 million tonnes as well as last year's achievement of 4.729 million tonnes.

As per the second estimates of rice the acreage of Basmati in Punjab has increased by seven percent from target of 1.116 million hectares to 1.247 million hectares, while the production has increased by 11 percent from 0.237 million tons to 0.267 million tonnes.

The increase in Basmati production occurred because of timely application of agriculture inputs, better crop husbandry as the well as increase in the area.

The report stresses the introduction of hybrid varieties of rice in Sindh even though the production of Irri is increasing in the province.

The agenda of the FCA meeting estimates the total offtake of fertilizers for the next Kharif crop at 2.226 million tonnes.

The off-take of urea is estimated 1.938 million tonnes while of DAP at 0.285 million tonnes and remaining for TSP and SOP.

The total opening stock on July 1,2000 for fertilizers is estimated at 2.290 million tonnes, including 1.669 millin tonnes of urea and 0.552 million tons of DAP.