Daily Times

National Agriculture Research Center (NARC) has imparted training to over 800 wheat growers across the crop producing areas in the country to enhance their per-acre output during the current Rabi season and make them more competitive in local markets besides increasing their income. So far, the center has organized 10 training secessions in different areas of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and Azad Kasmir and the growers were trained on efficient crop management practices including water, fertilizers and use of different pesticides. Besides, they were also trained for weeds managements in order to ensure maximum per-acre output by controlling the weeds, said National Coordinator Wheat of National Agriculture Center Dr Sikander Khan. While talking to APP here on Tuesday, he said that the NARC under its National Wheat Program had conducted these training secessions in Gujarat, Dera Ghazi Khan and Multan divisions of Punjab, adding that farmers of Mirpur Azad Kashmir, Attock, Kallar Syedan and Hazro were provided trained on crop management. In order to achieve higher per-acre wheat output during the current season, he said that NARC had evolved a strategy to impart training to farmers and other field extension workers and conducted about 17 training programs and trained about 21,000 farmers across the country.

Meanwhile, the training program from wheat growers of Balochistan Province including Jafarabad and Jhal Magsi districts would also be organized to enhance the farm output of these areas, he said adding that 200 demonstration plants were also established at different location to demonstrate high-yielding seeds varieties. Meanwhile, over 5,000 bags of certified high-yielding seed verities of wheat seeds were also provided to growers that would help multiply the certified seed production and ensure the provision of high-yielding, diseases, hit and drought-resilient seeds. It is worth mentioning here that wheat sowing across the crop-sowing country has witnessed an encouraging trend, which was attributed to incentives introduced by the government, particularly aftermaths of catastrophic floods and rains during the last moonsoon season. According to data from field extension departments of provincial governments, by the last week, wheat sowing was completed over 91 percent of set targets as grains sowing was completed over 21 million acres as against the set targets of 22.85 million acres.