Govt sets Kharif targets amid water stress, cotton shortfall

ISLAMABAD: As the Rabi crop season nears completion, with wheat as the strategic crop ensuring the country’s food security, the federal government on Tuesday announced production targets for the upcoming Kharif crop season.

Soil moisture, especially in major agricultural pla­ins, remains under stress due to drier conditions in previous months.

The Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA), a high-powered body chaired by Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain, fixed a production target of 9.17 million tonnes for rice, an important Kharif cash crop, to be cultivated over 3.39 million hectares.

For the upcoming Kharif sowing season, paddy seed availability stands at 60,190.69 metric tonnes, including 3,660.04 metric tonnes of imported seed, which is 110 per cent of the total national requirement of 54,916 metric tonnes.

The availability of quality paddy seed in Punjab is 45,323.80 metric tonnes (126 per cent), Sindh 8,832 metric tonnes (56 per cent), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 1,116.07 metric tonnes (114 per cent), and Balochistan 1,258.78 metric tonnes (58 per cent) of their respective provincial requirements.

During 2025-26, total paddy seed availability was 44,613 metric tonnes.

The production target for sugarcane has been set at 80.3 million tonnes over an area of 1.14 million hectares. Sugarcane provides raw material to the country’s second-largest agro-based industry, generating employment for millions in rural farming and non-farming communities.

It is also a major source of livestock fodder during the winter season. Sugar production for 2025-26 is projected at 6.15 million tonnes, a 6pc decline from the previous year due to flood damage, lower yields, and reduced sucrose recovery.

The FCA set a cotton production target of 9.64 million bales over an area of 2.16 million hectares for the upcoming season. Cotton production during 2025–26........

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