Record production of 103 lakh tonne wheat in Haryana

Chandigarh, Jun 14 (UNI) Haryana has achieved the record production of 102 lakh tonnes of wheat during the recent Rabi season.

Stating this here today, Agriculture Department spokesperson said wheat production of 100.55 lakh tonnes was achieved during the last Rabi season.

He said the adoption of new technologies in the cultivation of wheat by farmers had led to the highest production of wheat.

The state farmers had extensively made use of Zero Tillage Seed Drill Machine for sowing wheat crops and brought an area of 6 lakh hectares under this technology, which also improved the wheat productivity, he said.

Besides, the record production was the result of the department's concerted efforts to educate farmers regarding timely sowing, seed treatment, promotion of area specific varieties and proper weed management, the spokesperson informed.

He said the farmers responded well to the department call and a record area of 24.74 lakh hectares was brought under wheat crop against last year's coverage of 23.76 lakh hectares.

This also contributed a lot to the record wheat production. Zero tillage sowing not only reduced the cost of cultivation, but also yielded 2.50 quintals per hectares more than the conventional method of sowing. This system also saved precious water and facilitated early sowing of wheat, he added.

He said the government agencies had already procured over 50 lakh tonnes of wheat on Minimum Support Price (MSP) while last year only 33.50 lakh tonnes was procured.

It was anticipated that procurement might cross 52 lakh tonnes resulting into more than 50 per cent increase in procurement over the last year, he stated.

UNI MA ATI CS1915