News alert: Wheat Crop attacked by Pink Boll Worm in Pakistan

Weed: Gajjar Booti (Parthenium)

Gajjar Booti (Parthenium) is a fast growing weed in the world and ranked it among the top 10 destructive weeds of the world.  "Parthenium hysterophorus" is scientific name and Carrot Grass, Ragweed, and Congrus grass is its English names. Its origin from Mexico and spread through out the world.
In Pakistan Parthenium came from India through vegetable and fodder seed and spread in a destructive way all around the country. For short time its presence was in uncultivated area but now it is a severe problem of the cultivated areas of the Pakistan. Its is found normally in all crops, road sides, river banks, Canal sides and even in the urban areas.

Plant Characteristics:

1. It is a summer perennial weed.
2. At starting its plant is very tender and later on produce branches like bushes.
3. Parthenium has a strong stem and long root system.
4. It complete its life cycle within a month under favorable conditions.
5. It produce whit colored flower on the top of branches.
6. A single plant of Parthenium can produce more than 10000 or 25000 seed.

Harmful for Human beings: produces different kind of elegies on skin, eyes and in br
Harmful for livestock
Change C:N ratio in the soil and retard the growth of crops and other beneficial plants.
Produce allelopathic compounds which retards the growth of other plants.
Major host plant for Mealy Bugs.

Control:
By cultural control destroy the weed on its early growth stage.
Clean the roads and water channel and destroy it before seed producing stage.

By Chemical Control:
Use Glyphosate / Round up 500 ml in 20 liter of water and spray it on early growth stage of the plat repeatidly.

News: Efficacy of govt administered prices of wheat floor

"Due to the small difference between the open market and the Govt.issued prices for wheat the Sindh  Food department is finding it hard to sell its stock a head of the arrival of the fresh crop. HEAT flour prices remain unchanged despite the Rs200 per 100kg bag cut in the government-issued price for chakki and flour mills in Sindh." The retail price of chakki flour considered more nutritious than the variety rolled out by mills stands at Rs42 per kg. The provincial food department reduced the issued price of a 100kg wheat bag from Rs3,450 to Rs3,250 in line with the government`s December 15 decision. Usually, the government sells the wheat crop to chakki and flour mills between October and February. Between March and September, they easily buy wheat from the market as the new crop becomes available. There are reports that Karachi-based dealers had imported wheat for Rs2,900-3,000 per 100kg inclusive of all charges this year, mainly for the provincial capital. This affected the sale of grain from the government`s warehouses, forcing the government to reduce the price to make it competitive. The arrival of the new crop is just round the corner and the government needs to empty its godowns to procure wheat from growers at the support price to avoid an outcry against a delay in procurement. The provincial food department is approaching chakki owners to buy wheat at the new rate of Rs3,250 excluding transportation charges, which would eventually take the cost toRs3,310. Since the grain is available in the market at Rs3,320 inclusive of all transportation and related costs, the government`s offer fails to attract buyers. Flour millers like Saleem Ghori argue that if they had bought wheat from the government at Rs3,450 in early or mid2014, the retail price of flour would have hit Rs44 to Rs45 per kg for consumers. `Until December 21, we purchased a 100kg wheat bag for Rs3,320 in the open market, which was inclusive of all charges and delivered at our end,` says chakki owner Mohammad Hanif Rajput from Hyderabad. He adds that for a few days, the market price stayed at Rs3,350, but then it dropped to Rs3,320 after the government`s latest announcement. He explains that if the grain is boughtfrom the provincial food department at Rs3,250 per 100kg, one would have to add the transportation cost of Rs60, which would take the price to Rs3,310, leaving only a negligible Rs10 difference between the official and open market prices. As there is no major difference between the two rates, the buyers are lifting grain from the market. `The purchase of wheat from the market is easier than it is from the government`s warehouses, where we have to face a cumbersome procedure,` he says. A buyer carries money to the bank to get a draft that is then submitted to the government`s account. Then the food department`s godown is approached for obtaining the wheat bags. To top it all, complaints of reduced quantity of wheat, coupled with quality issues, persist. However, in the market, buyers just place their order over telephonic to a broker, who ensures the delivery of wheat at their doorstep. The payment is made through online banking. The current reduction in the price of grain doesn`t benefit consumers at all. For instance, in Hyderabad, wheat flour produced by chakkis continues to be sold for around Rs42. Chakki owners, says Rajput, add Rs290 as charges for electricity, labour, packaging etc, taking the overall price of post-grinded wheat to Rs3,610. Out of 100kgs, 86kgs are pure wheat flour, whereas the remaining 14kgs are bran or chaff that are sold at Rs18 per kg. `This deduction of Rs252 means that86kg of flour is produced at Rs3,358. So, the net cost of one kilogramme of wheat flour is Rs39.04. After adding Spc profit margin, it is sold at Rs41 as ex-chakki rate. The retailers then sell it at Rs42 to the consumers,` he remarks. Flour millers buy wheat from the market and extract superfine and granulated flour separately as by-products. These are used in bakery products or hotels for bread. The government is trying to sell 300,000 metric tonnes of wheat at a reduced price till January 15, when the new wheat crop would start arriving in the market. The provincial food department normally purchases around 30-40pc of the wheat crop (1.3m tonnes) of the roughly 3.6m tonnes produced by growers at the support price. •

Agriculture growth affected by depressed commodities rate

Every body  is concerned about agricultural growth prospects during 2015. They conclude three factors:  Poverty (as a majority of farmers are unable to invest in crops). The confusion about the federal and provincial governments` jurisdictions. Climatic changes that make the production cycle uncertain. The farmers have lost money on almost all major crops cotton, rice, cane and wheat during 2014; in many cases they were not able to recover even cost of production if official estimated costs are something to go by. The cost of each maund(40 kg) of cotton was stated to be Rs3,200, which was sold at Rs2,500 per 40Kg; cane cost was Rs194 per maund (40 kg), but fixed at Rs180; rice prices dropped by almost 50pc as compared to last year, and the federal government had to come up with a subsidy package to save farmers from total disaster. For cotton growers, the government had to induct the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to support market price to some extent. Under these circumstances, the farmers have precious little to invest on next crops that dims prospects for 2015. The farmers` ability to invest on inputs has always been a crucial factor, which seems to have been significantly lost. On the other hand, the cost of inputs barring a temporary relief on diesel keeps rising for a number of factors; cartelisation of the market and small players greed to reap windfall every season being prime factors. The urea position clarifies the point. Despite heavy imports, dealers are unwilling to bring prices down to official level and the Punjab government is currently readying to crackdown on urea blackmarketing. It had already lodged a number of FIRs for pesticides overcharging. The farming community is thus caught between falling income and rising cost of inputs and it could define theprospects of agricultural growth during 2015. This situation is afflicted by another factor; confusing rnandates of federal and provincial institutions about which one is supposed to do what. The Eighteenth Arnendment`s devolution isstill to be absorbed by the provincial governments. The recent row on cane prices clarifies the point, where the provincial governments of Punjab and Sindh acted differently; causing social upheaval and the federation siding with the farmers. The vacuum in some other areas is evenbigger. For example, the federation has a post Animal Husbandry Commissioner (commonly known as chief veterinarian) but it is lying vacant for the last one year. Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) has a post of a member, Animal Science, which has not beenfilled ever since the last one retired and the chief executive officer of the Federal Livestock Board is missing for the last two years. This vacuurn at the federal level is yet to be institutionally filled by the federating units. On their part, what provinces are doing is best exemplified by Punjab;during the last few years, it has nominated around seven different committees on livestock with grossly overlapping mandate and memberships, creating utter confusion. Without any institutional input, decision-making is hijacked by lobbies, which has managed to bring cane prices down for a week or so and made billions of rupees out it; they managed duty-free import of skimmed milk and started manufacturing milk at the cost of farmers. This confusion on mechanism, mandate and decision-making, in all probability, would continue during the next year and test agricultural abilities of the farmers and farming. To top them all is water scarcity, exacerbated by climatic changes and Pakistan`s inability to respond to it through a well thought-out planning and strategy. In a recent report, the State Bank of Pakistan had termed climate change not just a global debate, but a major threat to Pakistan; particularly, when it raises risks for food security. Estimating that temperature might rise by another 0.6 to one Celsius by 2030, the central bank warned that the change may take down wheat production by 1.52.5pc and rice by 2-4pc by 2020. Vegetables and livestock would also have their list of risks. The University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, which has a full-fledged department on climatology, also sounded a similar warning when dividing the entire 21st century into three periods (up to 2040, 2070 and the rest), it says that the average day temperature would increase by 2.8 Celsius by 2040. Even more threatening is rise in the night temperature by 2.2 Celsius during the same period. Both these major problems and their solutions or ways fully documented.. In the last four years, the country has had three floods because of erratic weather behaviour and still reeling under its damage. This is the area that needs immediate and full attention of the government.

Season of making "Raw Sugar' (locally Called Gur) in Pakistan

Now a season of sugarcane crushing is running in Pakistan. Most of the Sugarcane crop is sent to Sugar Mills for production of Sugar.
But in most of Pakistani areas, the farmer manufacture Desi Sugar (Raw Sugar) or gur for locally consumption purpose.
Pakistani people lives in rural area as well as in urban areas like to use gur for making many dishes like Gur Chawal (Rice), Gur ki Chai (Tea), and many dishes.
The main process in involved in Gur Making is described in the pictures.

Sugarcane Field

Extracting Juice from Canes

Boiling the Juice and Making Gur

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