Publication details

• Tuesday | 31 Mar, 2020
• Abid Qaiyum Suleri, Maryam Shabbir Abbasi
• COVID-19 Policy Review Series
• 37

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Wheat Operations amid Coronavirus outbreak Wheat is the main food crop of Pakistan, which is usually cultivated across the country on an area of over 9 million hectares. In 2020, the production target of wheat grain is 27.03 million tons and its support price is Rs 1400 per 40 Kg. Wheat harvesting has already been started in Sindh province whereas in the Punjab and other provinces, it is about to start. Generally, the wheat is harvested manually (with sickles), semi-mechanized (with reapers followed by threshing) and fully mechanized ways (with combine harvesters). The Punjab which produces about 80 per cent of the crop, can be divided into three cropping zones; Cotton belt (Southern Punjab), Rice belt (Central Punjab), and rain-fed agriculture belt (Potohar). In cotton belt, large farmers prefer mechanized harvesting whereas small farmers rely on manual harvesting. Majority of farmers in rice belt rely reapers whereas most of the farmers in rain-fed areas go for manual harvesting........