Most of the winter wheat grown in Pakistan is grown in the eastern region of the nation, adjacent to the India border. The province of Punjab grows the majority of Pakistani wheat, producing 72 percent of the nations total supply. The next largest wheat-producing province is Sind, which produces 17 percent of the total wheat supply. Winter wheat planting begins around the first of October and run through mid-December. Harvest begins in April and is usually completed by mid-June. [SpectrumCommodities]
Wheat-growing farm in Pakistan is in average about 3 ha [2012].
In Pakistan, wheat is grown in different cropping systems, such as; cotton - wheat, rice - wheat, sugarcane - wheat, maize - wheat, fallow - wheat. Of these, Cotton-Wheat and Rice-Wheat systems together account about 60% of the total wheat area whereas rain-fed wheat covers more than 1.50 m ha area. Rotations with Maize-Sugarcane, Pulses and fallow are also important. Improved semi-dwarf wheat cultivars available in Pakistan have genetic yield potential of 6-8 t/ ha whereas our national average yields are about 2.7 t/ha. [PARC/NARC]
Estimation of wheat acreage in kharif cropping season 2012-2013:
- Punjab province approximatelly 6.54 million hectares
- Sindh province approximatelly 1.05 million hectares
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) approximatelly 1.0 million hectares
- Balochistan province has less than 0.5 million hectares.
Most critical production constraints of wheat in Pakistan:
Presentation about wheat in Pakistan from Intl. Wheat Stripe Rust Symposium in 2011, Aleppo, Syria: