The Cereal Crop Research Institute (CCRI), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has said that wheat cultivation season has started in the province and advised the farmers and growers to plant recommended wheat seeds of the institute till November 10 to get best production. Senior Research Officer CCRI Dr Ibn Amin Khalil told this agency that keeping in view the changing weather pattern and climate change, the institute has introduced two types of wheat seeds for both arid areas and lands being irrigated with canal water. He said that both types of the seeds yield double production as compared to traditional seeds and were resistant to weather conditions and diseases. Dr Khalil said that the new seeds were developed carefully to get maximum production from minimum land, adding that the new seeds for arid areas included Shahkar 2013, Wadan 2017, Pirsabaq 2015, 2019, 2021, 2023 and Taskin 2022 while for seeds for areas being irrigated through canal water included Gulzar 2021, Zarghun 2021, Khaista 2017 and Khyber 2023.

Apart from this, he said Pasina 2017 and Abasin 2021 seeds have been developed for later growers. He said that if these seeds are cultivated in time, the productivity would double to the normal seeds, adding that the grain size of the seeds was also bigger than the normal seeds while it was less affected by diseases thus reducing the additional cost of pesticides on farmers and growers. Referring to the wheat demand, Dr Khalil said that according to experts’ estimates, 1.3 million tons of wheat are being produced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa every year while the requirement of the province is five million tons. “If the farmers use the seeds recommended by the experts, the dependence of the province on Punjab for procurement of wheat will be reduced,” he claimed.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan