Punjab farmers complete 77 pc of wheat sowing in record time

The sowing of wheat in Punjab has been completed in an area of 26.20 lakh hectares, which is 77 per cent of the total area to be sown under wheat, said Jasbir Singh Bains, Director, Agriculture, in a statement.

Bains pointed out that the area sown under wheat is 3 per cent more than previous year. Last year wheat was sown in 25.12 lakh hectares till date achieving 74 per cent sowing. According to information received by the department, 97 per cent sowing has been completed in Patiala district while 98 per cent in Sangrur and Fatehgarh Sahib districts.

He stated that a higher level of sowing has become possible due to the supply of a large number of crop residue management superior quality machines on subsidy by the state government. The remaining area for sowing was mainly under cotton and basmati where harvesting was still taking place as per the prevalent practice in the past, he further said.

The Director also advised the farmers not to use more than one bag of DAP per acre of wheat crop. He also suggested the farmers not to use more than two bags of urea, that too within 55 days of sowing of wheat so that other minor minerals like zinc were not suppressed by the excessive dose of urea and DAP.