Drill, don't broadcast: UAF closes wheat drive with Farmer's Day at Jaranwala

Key Points:

UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Zulfiqar Ali urged farmers to adopt modern wheat practices at a Farmer’s Day at Chak No. 125-GB, Jaranwala
More than 3,200 UAF students visited villages in six Punjab divisions during the ten-day wheat awareness campaign from October 30 to November 8
Farmers were advised to complete wheat sowing between November 1 and 20, using drill sowing and super seeders instead of broadcast

FAISALABAD: University of Agriculture Faisalabad urged farmers to adopt modern wheat practices at a Farmer’s Day in Jaranwala.

According to the UAF handout, the event was held at Trend Agricultural Farm, Chak No. 125-GB, Jaranwala, closing a ten-day wheat production awareness campaign run with the Punjab Agriculture Extension Department from October 30 to November 8.

Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Zulfiqar Ali told the gathering that farmers were the driving force behind agricultural development and food self-sufficiency. He said scientific knowledge and modern technologies could raise per-acre yields.

“Farmers are the driving force behind the country’s agricultural development and food self-sufficiency, particularly in ensuring sustainable wheat production.”

Recalling the Green Revolution, Prof Zulfiqar Ali said wheat yields stood at only ten to twelve maunds per acre in the 1960s, while progressive farmers now harvested more than eighty maunds per acre.

Director General Agriculture Extension Dr Shahbaz Akhtar advised farmers to complete wheat sowing between November 1 and 20, stressing timely land preparation and certified seed.

He said drill sowing and super seeders should replace the traditional broadcast method, since row sowing saved seed and improved crop management.

Dr Shahbaz said the Kisan Card, super seeders and modern machinery, along with a wheat support price of Rs 4,500 per maund, were important incentives for growers.

Dean Faculty of Agriculture Prof Dr Ghulam Murtaza said more than 3,200 UAF students visited villages in six divisions during the campaign, carrying modern wheat advice directly to farmers.

The students worked in Faisalabad, Lahore, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Gujranwala and Gujrat divisions under the supervision of agricultural experts.

The speakers said the campaign reached farmers through 400 public gatherings, 200 large farmer gatherings and 500 village contact sessions.

Progressive farmer Zia Alamdar Hussain said modern production technologies and agricultural recommendations could raise yields while cutting cultivation costs.

Assistant Commissioner Jaranwala Ziaullah Gondal said the local administration was using all available resources to deliver government facilities to farmers transparently and on time.

Prof Dr Muhammad Naveed advised farmers using their own preserved seed to clean and treat it with recommended chemicals before sowing.

He stressed balanced fertiliser use, warning that nutrient deficiencies could considerably reduce final yields.

Director Agriculture Extension Faisalabad Khalid Mahmood and Rashid Ali said timely sowing, quality seed, balanced fertilisation, efficient water management and modern machinery were essential to higher wheat production.

The Agriculture Census 2024 records wheat as Pakistan’s dominant crop, covering 43.3 per cent of cropped area, with Punjab contributing 57 per cent of the country’s wheat.

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