Daily Times

Food is a prerequisite for sustainable & healthy life. Sustainable Development Goal-2 (SDG2) intends to end hunger, by achieving universal food security and improved nutrition through sustainable agriculture. Currently, above 241.49 million people dwell in Pakistan (Council of Common Interests, 2023) and further reach about 350 million by 2050 and food demand of nearly 296 million tons will be expected from researchers & farming community. Wheat is staple food in Pakistan and accounts for 60% of daily diet and 72% of daily caloric intake.

Government first official assessment didn’t consider wheat production during the marketing year 2022-23 (May-April) and production remains 26.4 million tons, 4% less than last year. According to a Global Agricultural Information Network report, the import of 2.5 million tons wheat is expected to be higher from a previous forecast of 2 million tons based on Government International Procurement Intentions. Despite of Agriculture based economy and over an area of 25 million acres under wheat cultivation, Pakistan has become 21st largest wheat importer in work, spending $1 billion to procure 2 to 3 million tons wheat from Ukraine ($594 million), Russia ($185 million), Bulgaria ($107 million), Romania ($50.1 million), and Brazil ($17.2 million).

The availability of food can be ensured by enhancing horizontal and vertical yield of wheat, whereas urbanization and industrialization reduce the cultivated area exponentially so vertical yield though sustainable agriculture practices has become imperative. Sustainable crop production is based on the performance triangle of seed, seeding and environment. Seed and seeding can be managed by acquiring certified seed, soil & water management, integrated nutrition & disease/pest management and minimizing losses during harvesting and postharvest handling. Whereas, the ceaseless comportment of climate imposes serious threat to sustainable wheat production as 10C increase in temperature lowers 6% yield and 4.4% yield losses was reported due to severity of drought.

Sustainable crop production is based on the performance triangle of seed, seeding and environment.

Federal Seed Certification & Registration Department (FSC&RD) regulates public and private seed sectors as well as supervises variety registration & seed certification programs in Pakistan. FSC&RD ensures the sales of quality seed only by keeping regular inspection of 242 national and 04 multinational registered seed companies that have been registered and granted permission to produce & market seed across the country. Secondly, seed amendment act 2015 also facilitates private seed sectors to become the part of foundation seed cell and procure pre basic seeds from research institutions to maximize the production of certified seed.

In spite of all effort by Government officials, still more than 76% farmers are yet utilizing carryover seeds of anonymous varieties mostly sensitive to rust and seed borne diseases. Despite of farmer own saved seed a certified seed produces through classical breading, hybridization or genetic engineering possesses attributes of good quality including varietal purity, genetic homogeneity, viability and vigor, conserve seed rate, better response to applied inputs, provide buffer against climate change during field appraisal and ultimately ensure higher availability of food to sustain increasing population. The replacement of domestic seed with certified seed of approved variety exhibits physical & genetic purity 99%, germination potential higher than 85%, better resilience against rust and smut diseases & uncertain climate and ensure 20 to 30% higher economic return. For instance, for the growing season of wheat about 46% (1.1 million ton) certified seed was available during year 2022-23 but yet also less than 20% progressive farmers are only relying on certified seeds and remaining growers particularly small land holder mostly possesses less than 2 hectares land area are using carryover seeds for cultivation. Consequently, due the utilization of unauthorized seeds, climate change, lack of mechanization, outdated harvesters and practicing obsolete production lead to a total harvest of lower wheat production of 26.4 million tons. Applying all remaining factors constant, just by replacement of carryover seed with 100% certified seeds the production can be increased up to 30.3 million tons. Moreover, the further 2.64 million tons wheat can be added by minimizing the harvesting losses from 12% to 2%. Consequently, wheat produced higher than total consumption of 29.2 million tons can be a step forward to national food security as well as shrink our dependence on import of wheat every year up to maximum extent.

Therefore, in current scenario, it’s time to launch campaign in farmers’ domain particularly small land holders to select certified seeds packed in bag with blue tag from FSC&RD authorized seed corporation or dealership, awareness of weather forecast, adoption of advanced production technology and use of updated harvesters to enhance wheat production per unit area and contribute in food supply for increasing population and country’s economy.

The writer is PhD (Agronomy) and associated with University of Sargodha as Assistant Professor. He can be reached at kamran.muhammad@uos.edu.pk.