The agriculture experts and health scientists have termed the upcoming rains, forecast from coming Saturday for all seasonal crops.
The agriculture experts and health scientists have termed the upcoming rains, forecast from coming Saturday for all seasonal crops besides being beneficial for human health through bringing down allergies due to dust and smog.
The agriculture experts and health scientists have termed the upcoming rains, forecast from coming Saturday for all seasonal crops besides being beneficial for human health through bringing down allergies due to dust and smog.
“The first rain of winter season would be largely beneficial for wheat, which is the major cash crop of the Rabi Season and vital source of staple food in the country”, said Chairman Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) Dr. Muhammad Azeem Khan.
Talking to APP here on Wednesday he said these rains would be most beneficial for the growers of rain-fed areas and providing them required moisture for sowing the crop well in time.
Besides, it would also help exploit full potential of rain-fed areas where other crops including pulses, oilseeds and vegetables were also grown to fulfill the local needs.
Timely rains would help to bring more areas under wheat cultivation that would also help to supplement the national output, which was reduced during last sowing season, he remarked.
He informed that the Federal Committee on Agriculture had fixed wheat production targets at 26.78 million tons by cultivating crops over 9.16 million hectares.
Chairman PARC further informed that wheat sowing during current season was expected to enhance by 2 to 3 percent in irrigated areas in the country, adding that an increase in the minimum support price and incentive package for Rabi crop had encouraged the farmers to grow more crop during the season.
He said if the other conditions remained the same, it was expected that the wheat output targets of 26.78 million tons set for current season would be achieved, which help to attain self-sufficiency in wheat.
It may be recalled here that first winter rain and snowfall predicted in upper parts of the country during the weekend.
Met Office informed that a westerly weather system is likely to approach western and upper parts of the country from Friday and expected to persist in upper parts till Monday.
Under the influence of this weather system: rain with snowfall over the hills is expected in Gilgit-Baltistan from Friday to Monday.
Rain-thunderstorm (with snowfall over hills) is expected in Chitral, Dir, Swat, Shangla, Buner, Kohistan, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Haripur, Charsadda, Mardan, Peshawar, Kohat, Waziristan, Kurram and Kashmir from Friday to Sunday. While, Bhakkar, Layyah, Bannu and D. I. Khan from Friday (night) and Saturday.
Light to moderate rain-thunderstorm is expected in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum, Mianwali, Khushab, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Hafizabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot and Lahore during Saturday to Monday (morning). Rain-thunderstorm (with light Snowfall over hills) is also expected in Quetta, Zhob, Ziarat, Qila Abdullah during Friday (night) to Saturday.
Murree and Galliyat likely to receive first winter snowfall on Saturday or Sunday.
Originally published at urdupoint