State looks at 4% more wheat output at 157 lakh tonnes
Chandigarh: The Punjab government Thursday said
the state would achieve wheat output of nearly 157 lakh
tonnes, almost 4 per cent more than the previous year's
production, on the back of favourable weather conditions.
The state has witnessed record low arrival of wheat
in the ongoing wheat procurement season.
"There is no reason to worry...we are eyeing to achieve
wheat production of 156.64 lakh tonnes this season which is
more than the last year's output," Punjab, Director of
Agriculture Department, BS Sidhu said here today.
Punjab had attained wheat production of 151.69 lakh tonnes
last year.
The state, which contributes almost 60 per cent of its
output to the Central pool, is also expecting wheat yield to
go up by 1.5 quintals to 2 quintals per hectare as intense
cold conditions prevailed last winter season.
Cold wave helps in shoots multiplication and prevents pest
attack on crop.
"We are also expecting that the crop yield will also go up
by 1.5 quintals to 2 quintals per hectare because weather
remained conducive in the winter season," he noted.
Punjab is now expecting close to 45 quintals per hectare
as wheat yield compared to 43.7 quintals attained in last
season.
Notably, Punjab had over 45 quintals of wheat yield in
1999-2000, 2000-01, 2001-02 and 2007-08.