Sindh has adequate wheat stock to meet existing demand

Sindh province has adequate wheat stock to meet the existing demand till the arrival of next crop, traders said on Monday. Talking to Business Recorder they said that presently Sindh has some 0.113 million tons wheat stock in its godowns and recently the Sindh food department has also issued delivery orders of over 100,000 tons wheat quota to flour mills across the province. This quota will be sufficient for next 15 days.
"New wheat crop is almost ready in several parts of Sindh and regular supply is likely to arrive in next few days as harvesting has already begun in some districts", said Hashim Sharja Wala, a leading wheat trader. There is neither panic nor wheat crisis in the market as sufficient wheat stock is available in the province. Even wheat grain prices are stable at Rs 39,000 per ton from last one month, he added.
Presently, wheat is being traded at Rs 39,000 to Rs 39,250 per ton in open market, while Sindh food department is supplying commodity to flour mills at a price of Rs 30,000 per ton, he mentioned. With the arrival of new crop, wheat grain prices in the domestic market are likely to face a drastic cut in next few weeks; he said and added that wheat harvesting has started in some parts of the province, where wheat crop is ready. However, arrival will increase after harvesting and thrashing in the belt of Dadu and MirpurKhas, Hashim mentioned.
He said that some trucks of new wheat crop have also arrived in the market and commodity was traded at Rs 35,000 per ton, due to some moisture. "We are expecting wheat prices will decline to Rs 35,000 in next 10 day, when proper supply of new wheat crop will begin", Hashim said.
Sindh government has planned to procure some 1.3 million tons this year to build its strategic reserves and Sindh food department has taken several steps to avoid any speculation in the market.Sindh government may impose an inter-district ban on wheat movement aimed to complete its procurement, he added.
"Presently, prices are higher than wheat support price of Rs 1200 per maund or Rs 30,000 per ton, but I m sure that wheat prices will gradually decline after arrival of new crop in the market and price is expected to be around Rs 30,000 to Rs 31,000 per ton by the end of this month", Hashim said.
Talking about the Thar famine, he said, this is only due to mismanagement and distribution/ transportation issues and there is no shortage of commodity in province. He said that as per food department they have distributed over thousands of wheat bags among masses of Thar in the last three days.
He said that during the last crop season, Sindh has failed to achieve its procurement target and some 1.05 million ton wheat was procured as against target of Rs 1.3 million tons. However this year, wheat procurement target will be achieved as Sindh will have a bumper wheat crop.
Akhtar Hussian, a leading flour miller, said that presently mills are getting some 300 bag per day from food department and there is no wheat crisis in the province. He said that new crop will arrive in the market from March 15 and after that stock position will further improve.

Source: Business Recorder

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Growing Wheat of Your Own

If you’re deep into horticulture and self-direction, sooner or later you’ll need to do growing wheat. Among alternative advantages, it permits you to urge far from the business method that grows a superbly sensible grain, then scrapes off the bran, peels out the germ, bleaches the flour, and sells all those things back to you individually.

If you try, you'll discover wheat is simple to grow nearly anyplace within the u.  s., while a wide-row crop in your garden. One gardener in VT attests to having planted thirty pounds of winter wheat on simple fraction of Associate in Nursing acre and harvest 250 pounds of grain in July. On a somewhat smaller scale, although you have got a curtilage that’s twenty feet by fifty feet, you'll plant six pounds of wheat and harvest nearly fifty pounds of grain.

Before you sky-high conceive to place in enough wheat to form all of your bread for consecutive year, begin with alittle trial space the primary year. This check run can enable you to be told however the grain behaves, what its cultivation issues area unit, however long it takes you to handle it, however it’s stricken by varied climate conditions, and more.
Different Types of Wheat

After you’ve determined what proportion wheat to plant, you’ll have to be compelled to decide which kind to plant. It’s simple to urge confused concerning sorts of wheat. Winter wheat is planted within the fall and harvested from period within the South to late July within the North. Spring wheat is planted within the spring and harvested within the fall. each spring and winter wheat area unit additional divided into wheat (lacking a high protein content and used primarily for pastries and crackers), durum wheat (with a high protein content and used for breads), and corn (used for pasta). the variability you choose can rely on wherever you reside. seek advice from your native cooperative consultant to be told that varieties area unit best for your region. (To realize sources for little quantities of wheat seeds, strive our Seed and Plant Finder, or seek advice from your native farm stores.)
Planting Wheat

Plant winter wheat in fall to permit for 6 to eight weeks of growth before the soil freezes. this enables time permanently root development. If the wheat is planted too early, it's going to smother itself the subsequent spring and it may well be susceptible to some late-summer insects that won’t be a problem within the cooler fall weather. If winter wheat is planted too late, it'll not overwinter well.

Spring wheat ought to be planted as early because the ground is worked in spring. Do the initial tilling within the fall, then until and sough the spring. to confirm Associate in Nursing equally distributed crop, find out the quantity of seed you’ll would like, divide it into 2 piles, and broadcast one half in one direction, like from east to west. Then broadcast the rest from north to south. A cyclone crank seeder can do a good job, however broadcasting by hand is ok for alittle plot. you furthermore mght will plant it in rows like alternative crops.
Cover the seed by rototilling or raking it in to a depth two|of two} to 2 one⁄2 inches for winter wheat and one to 1 1⁄2 inches for spring wheat. For best results, roll or otherwise firm the bed to confirm sensible seed-soil contact.
Harvesting Grain

As you admire your wheat stand, you’ll notice in solstice (later for spring wheat) that the colour of the stalks turns from inexperienced to yellow or brown. The heads, serious with grain, tip toward the planet. this suggests it’s time to check the grain. opt for a head, detect a number of grains, and pop them into your mouth. If they're soft and soggy, the grain isn't nevertheless prepared. Keep testing. someday the grains are firm and firm, and it'll be time to reap.

At harvest, however {should you|do you have got to|must you} cut the wheat? If you have alittle enough plot, you’ll simply snip the heads of wheat off the stems. It goes quickly if your wheat field is not any larger than concerning six feet wide by twenty five feet long.

Using a scythe. If you prefer the stylish approach of doing things and area unit progressing to harvest a bigger quantity of grain, you would possibly use a scythe and cradle. The cradle could be a series of long wood fingers mounted on top of the scythe blade. The scythe cuts the wheat, so the cradle carries the cut wheat to the tip of every swing and deposits it during a neat pile, stacked with all the heads sorted along. you'll cut with the scythe alone, however you'd pay plenty of your time finding out the cut wheat and composition it for easier handling.

Harvesting with a edge tool. Another potential tool for cutting little amounts of grain is that the edge tool. It’s a matter of grab and cut, grab and cut. Hold a few of wheat in your hand and swing the edge tool together with your right to chop the plants at nearly ground level. It’s potential to kneel or crouch in numerous positions to avoid obtaining too tired. As you narrow handfuls, lay them in little piles with all the heads pointed within the same direction.

Binding sheaves. consecutive step is to bind the grain into sheaves, every concerning twelve to fourteen inches in circumference — a bunch you'll hold well in your hands. Bind an equivalent day you narrow the wheat. It’s nice to own 2 folks taking turns cutting and binding. you'll bind with wire or baler’s twine or maybe with a number of the wheat stems, twisting them during a approach that holds the bundle firm.

Curing the grain. Stack sheaves upright during a well-ventilated, dry location safe from grain-eating animals. Our ancestors stacked sheaves to form shocks within the field, however with little quantities, it’s simple to bring the sheaves in out of the weather. The grain has been cured once it's laborious, shatters simply, and can't be damaged together with your fingernail.

Threshing. currently it’s time to thresh the grain — to separate the straw and chaff from it. you'll set about this in any variety of the way. One technique is flailing. A flail consists of 1 piece of wood concerning three feet long — the handle — connected with a animal skin thong to a shorter piece concerning a pair of feet long. The shorter piece is flung at the heads of grain repeatedly, shattering a number of heads whenever. If you're mistreatment this technique, you'll expect to provide concerning three pounds of wheat in twenty to twenty five minutes. That’s slow work. Also, there’s a trick to learning to swing the tail while not rapping yourself on the top.
Another way is to beat the individual sheaves against the within of an oversized, clean dustbin. In 2 hours a thresher will turn out a will filled with wheat, however with plenty of chaff and even solid heads in it. this can be quicker than flailing, however produces additional detritus that has got to be separated from the wheat.

Winnowing. the same old technique for sifting is gushing the grain from one instrumentality to a different, property either the wind or the breeze from an electrical fan push the lighter chaff out of the grain. Repeat the method a number of times to urge the grain as chaff-free as potential.
The Best ways that to Store Wheat

The approach you store grain depends on what proportion you’re managing. Storing it properly means that protective it from heat, light, and wetness, still as from rats, mice, and insects. you'll keep alittle quantity of grain in plastic luggage within the electric refrigerator much forever, however it takes additional effort to store larger amounts.

The general recommendation is to store laborious winter or spring wheat with but a ten % wetness content — a wetness level that's really tough to achieve while not further drying (see below). Five-gallon metal or plastic buckets with friction lids area unit ideal for storing all grains. 100 pounds of grain is keep in 3 of those containers. (Garbage cans don't seem to be sensible for storage as a result of creating them bug-proof is tough.)

These cans forestall insects from going in the grain, however you want to take another step to eliminate any eggs or larvae already within the grain. an easy technique is to heat the grain within the kitchen appliance for half-hour at one hundred forty degrees Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, that conjointly can facilitate cut back the wetness content. If you’re undecided concerning the accuracy of your oven’s thermostat, check it with Associate in Nursing kitchen appliance thermometer: temperatures beyond one hundred forty degrees could injury the grain.
Grinding Grain

Some books counsel employing a liquidizer to grind the grain, however that doesn’t work well. You won’t be ready to create nice, fine flour — solely a rough meal with particles of uneven size. At first, shopping for a reasonable, hand-cranked mill sounds right and romantic — back to nature all the way! however what proportion flour area unit you progressing to be grinding? You’d need to grind all afternoon to urge enough flour for 6 loaves of bread, and that’s apt to discourage you from baking in the slightest degree when the primary few tries. mistreatment an electrical grinder could be a higher thanks to grind giant quantities. once you’re choosing a mill, raise the subsequent questions:

• can it handle {the quantity|the quantity|the number} of flour you expect to grind during a affordable amount of time?
  
• will it grind while not heating the grain?
  
• will or not it's adjusted to grind totally different degrees of coarseness?
  
• Is it simple to use and clean?
   
• can replacement components be on the market if you would like them?
     
• Is it factory-made by a honored company which will honor the warranty?

When grinding grain, avoid the temptation to grind giant amounts for future use. Grind what you would like for maybe every week, Associate in Nursingd refrigerate the unused portion in an airtight instrumentality. Whole grains is keep for months while not loss of style or nutrition, however this can be not true of whole grain flour.

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Sugarcane : A Complete guide

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Saccharum officinarum

INTROUDCITON:

Sugar cane is C₄ plant it is a parineal crop. The plant takes 10 to 12 month under Pakistani condition. 18 month under Australian condition and 24 month in Cuba and Brazil condition to complete its life cycle. The plant grows from seed set called as plant crop. It is vegetative plant. Rising of succeeding crop after harvesting first year crop is known as ratoon crop. Sugar cane is very sensitive to cold injury. During frost conversion of sucrose to glucose takes place. The sugar mill are interested in sucrose while the farmer are interested in sugar cane weight. Therefore we need high sugar and high weight variety. It is a true seeded plant. They have five sub species

· Saccharum spontanium

· Saccharum sinensis

· Saccharum Bari beri

· Saccharum robustum

· Saccharum officinarum

 

SOIL REQUIREMENT:

Sugar cane can be grown in low fertile, medium fertile and high fertile soil. It is very essential the sugar cane should be grown in high fertile soil because of parineal crop and produce high biomass.

CLIMATE:

The sugar cane is tropical crop it can tolerate high temperature but the optimum temperature at the time of sowing should not be less than 12 ºC to 18 ºC. The optimum temperature for growth is 30 ºC.

PLANTING SEASON:

There are two seasons:

· Winter season (September sowing)

· Spring season (February to March sowing)

In winter season intercropping takes place for example onion in Sindh and wheat, mustard in Punjab. In February to March only onion can be sown.

LAND PREPARATION:

Sugar cane requires deep tillage. Deep tillage includes Mould board plough and those farmers who do not have tractor they use Sarkar plough made up of wood. There are two types of sowing in sugar cane. Sugar cane is sow in furrow area as it is water-loving plant. Row to row distance is 3-5 ft.

CONTENTS:

Thin variety seed is sown for 60-70 munds per acre. It contains 13-14% fiber & 70% water, 10-11% sugar and 2-3% impurities, 1-2% glucose. We have to evaporate the water than we will get the sugar. Plant to plant distance is 9-12 inches over lapping of sets take place. Buds and leaf grown alternately. Leaf covers the bud to protect it in order to safe the bud from the outer environments. If the bud damages than the growth does not occurs/ takes place.

SEED SELECTION:

Ratoon type crop are not selected. It is better to cut the top portion of crop as top portion contain good amount of glucose and lower portion contain sucrose. Immature seed is better than mature plant seeds. 40,000 to 60,000 sets are grown in 1 acre.

VARIETIES:

· BL-4 Barbados + Lyallpur

· POJ Java variety in Indonesia

· COL In India 113-116 Comibitor + Lyallpur

· BF Barbados + Faisalabad 129

· BF-162

· Thatta-10

· SPSG-26

· CP Canal point

 

GERMINATION RATE:

· Top portion of sugar cane give 70% germination

· Middle portion of sugar cane give 40% germination

· Basal portion contain more salts therefore its germination is 30%

· Covering of sugar cane is called “rind” which contain parenchyma cells it contain sugar content.

· Roots are known as fibrous roots.

· When the stem bends and than the root which arises are known as butterious roots.

· Basal root contain glucose only which help in growth.

· Earthing up (prevents from water logging) should be done in the month of June.

· One bud can arises 40 to 50 sugar cane.

SEED TREATEMENT:

Sugar cane seed in the form of sets can be treated with fungicides or in hot water.

SOIL FERTILITY:

Before land preparation we need good manuring crop. Before seeding or flowering we have to plough the green manuring. After this we have to irrigate the land in order to decompose the green manuring. Before sowing the crop a month ago we have to do manuring 10 to 15 tones per acre should be use a month ago before sowing the crop. Farmyard manuring should be decomposing properly.

FERTILIZER REQUIREMENT:

First we have to satisfy the phosphorous requirement.

· At sowing:

2 bags of DAP or 2 bags of TSP or 5 bags of SSP and 1 bag of SOP or MOP.

· Seedling stage:

It comes after 1 month of sowing. 1 bag of urea when the temperature is high above 20 ºC than 2 bag of A.N is used.

· Tillering stage:

This stage comes after 2 month of sowing 1 bag of urea. After 3 months of tillering 1 bag of urea is used.

IRRIGATION:

In September sowing (autumn) we need 40% to 45% time of irrigation of crops. For February to March sowing we need 30% to 34% times irrigation of crop (spring season). For September irrigation we need 4.5-acre foot water. For February to March irrigation we need 3-acre foot of water.

 

DISEASES:

· Red rot

· Whips smut

· Mossaic virus

· Ratoon stunting disease (RSD)

CONTROL:

· Healthy seed

· Resistance variety

· Crop rotation

INSECT PEST:

· Termite

· Pyrilla

· Milli bug

· Red mites

BORERS OF SUGAR CANE:

· Stem borer

· Top borer

· Pink borer

· Gurdas pur

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Cotton

Cotton means, “thread”. Cotton is an in determinant plant. There are four cultivated species of cotton.

· Gossipium arborium

· Gossipium herbacium

· Gossipium hirsutum

· Gossipium barbaden

The first two species are called Old-world cotton. It is grown in India, Pakistan. Lint is used in textile and stuffing. The last two species Gossipium hirsutum (American Cotton) and Gossipium barbaden (Egyptian Cotton) are grown in Pakistan and known as “Narma”. Main stem of cotton is called Cotton stick. 40 kg of cotton gives 26-27 Kg of Banola seed and 13-14 Kg of lint. Cotton is important cash crop of Pakistan. 60% of export earning is through cotton 85% domestic oil (vegetative oil) is coming from cotton. It provides raw material to 503 mills in Pakistan and 1135 ginning factories. Yield per hectare is more in Punjab than Sindh.

PLANTING REQUIREMENT OF COTTON:

It is warm season crop. The optimum temperature for germination is between 30-35 °C. At the time of flowering temperature is 34-36 °C.

VEGETATIVE GROWTH PATTERN:

Emergence of leaves from nodes takes place. Healthy root system is present for acquiring soil nutrient. Acropetal (Roots) and Basipetal (Leaves) transport system is present. Main stem is called “monopodial” and branches are called “synpodial”. Root growth is 0.5-2.0 inches each day. Cotyledon unfolds at that time root can grow up to 10 cm. At early vegetative stage root is twice than plant height. At the time of boll setting due to demand of carbohydrate root growth become slow. Root activity become slow gradually when plant mature.

IRRIGATION:

Cotton requires moderately to high irrigation. Cotton can not survive in stagnant water.

SOIL REQUIREMENT AND SOIL PH:

Clay loamy soil is best for cotton. Optimum soil pH for cotton is 5.8-6.5 (slightly acidic). Cotton can also be grown in alkaline soil (pH ranges from 8 and above). The soil should be high in organic matter.

VARIETIES:

The main varieties grown in Sindh are

· Kalandri

· M-100

· Cris-9

· Cris-34

· Cris-38

· Sarmast

· Reshmi

· Rehmani

Some Punjab varieties grown in Sindh are

· NIAB-78

· NIAB-98

· Krishma

SEED VARIETY AND GERMINATION RATE:

Seed variety should be 100% pure and germination rate is 75%. 1 lock of boll contains 6-8 seeds.

DELITING:

1 Kg of sulphuric acid = 10 Kg of cottonseeds.

SOIL TEMPERATURE:

At the time of germination soil temperature should be less than 30 ° C. Above 60° C temperatures destroy seedling emergence.

SOWING DATE:

Sowing starts at 15^th April. Row to row spacing 2.5-3.0 ft. Plant to plant spacing 9 inches approximately.

SEED RATE:

8-10 Kg seeds per Acre.

SOWING METHOD:

Cottonseed is sown by

· Furrow method

· Ridges method

In flat method 25,000-30,000 plants per acre.

DISEASES:

· Boll rots.

· Nematodes.

· Seedling disease.

· Verticillium wilt.

· Ascochyta blight.

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Growers urged to complete sunflower sowing

Punjab Agriculture Department (PAD) has warned the growers to immediately complete sunflower sowing as further delay will result in lower per acre yield. A spokesman of the Department said here on Monday that best time for spring plantation of sunflower in Southern Punjab including Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan Division is till February 10. While in Sahiwal, Faisalabad and Sargodha Division best time for sowing is till February 15 and for Lahore, Gujranwala and Rawalpindi Division the suitable time is till end of February. He further stated that the growers should adopt latest technology to get maximum per acre production.

^{Source: Business Recorder}

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Soil Sampling

Soil testing is the single most important guide to the profitable use of fertilizer and lime. It is in the best interest of farmers, lawn care professionals, landscapers, gardeners, fertilizer suppliers, and consultants to promote the use of soil testing for several reasons like

• Grow Higher Crop Yields
• Produce Higher Quality Crops And Ornamentals
• Use Fertilizer Dollars More Efficiently

The purpose of soil testing is to identify the soil fertility that the plants or crop, in a given area will experience. The soil area and volume could be a large field, a small garden, or simply the root zone of a single tree or shrub. The most difficult step in soil testing is accurately representing the desired area of soil. A laboratory cannot improve the accuracy of a sample that does not represent the area.

In most soils, it takes more than one year to make significant changes to the soil test levels. As the soil improves with better fertility programs, subsequent crops or plant growth should show increasing rates of improvement. Soils are formed over thousands of years, and are not easily changed in a short time.

Sampling Tools

Tools that may be used to take a sod sample include a spade or shovel, soil sampling tube, or soil auger. Sample tubes or augers should either be stainless steel or chrome plated.

When sampling various soils at different times of the season it is important to use the proper equipment. A soil probe, either a hand tube or hydraulic probe, can be used under most conditions. A small wooden rod may be helpful in removing the soil core from the tube. The soil auger is especially useful when sampling frozen ground or heavily compacted soil that a soil tube can't penetrate. If a spade is used for sampling, dig a V-shaped hole to sample depth; then cut a thin slice of soil from one side of the hole. if using a pail to collect the soil, it should be plastic to avoid any contamination from trace metals. For instance, soil will pick up zinc from a galvanized pail. When sampling wet soils, vegetable oil or mineral oil may be used to lubricate the probe to minimize soil pushing ahead of the probe.

A Few Universal Basics

1. Soil samples can be taken with a professional soil probe, or simply using a shovel, spade, or garden trowel.

2. Each sample should be composed of from 10 to 15 cores.

3. As you take cores of soil, put them into the plastic bucket. Mix the soil thoroughly in the bucket (galvanized buckets will contaminate the sample with zinc), breaking up all cores. Then, fill the soil bag to the green line (about 1 cup of soil). Discard any extra soil.

Soil Sampling Procedure:

1. Samples are taken separately and away from the road side and heaps of the fertilizers or farm yard manure.

2. Take first sample of the soil with the Augar or shovel/spade at the depth of 0 to 15 cm.

3. Take second sample at the depth of 15 to 30 cm.

4. Similarly further samples will be taken from the selected are in the field.

5. Put the simples of soil in the buckets depth wise.

6. Note soil depth with the help of marker on polythene plastic bags.

7. Dry the samples at optimum sun shine.

8. Now store the sample for further analysis.

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