Wheat Cultivation in Pakistan: Sowing Time, Varieties, Fertiliser and Yield

Wheat cultivation in Pakistan starts with a 1 to 20 November sowing window in irrigated Punjab, a 40 to 45 kg per acre seed rate, and a Punjab average yield of 33.14 maunds per acre.

This page sets out the sowing calendar, the approved varieties and their yield potential, seed rate, land preparation, the fertiliser schedule, the irrigation schedule, weed control, pests and diseases, barani cultivation and harvesting for wheat گندم in Pakistan. The figures come from two primary sources. The first is the Punjab Agriculture Department production plan for wheat 2023-24, prepared by the Directorate of Agriculture Coordination Punjab and published by the Directorate General Agriculture Information Punjab. The second is the wheat cultivation booklet of the Wheat Programme, Crop Sciences Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, issued by the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council in Islamabad, which carries no printed year and whose newest varieties are 2021 releases.

Most of the detail below is Punjab specific, because the production plan is a Punjab document. Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan run different sowing windows, different approved variety lists and different fertiliser doses, and the PARC booklet province table in the next section shows how far those windows separate. Growers outside Punjab should treat the Punjab doses as indicative and take their own numbers from their provincial agriculture department. Wheat sits inside the wider picture of agriculture in Pakistan, which supplies 23.4 percent of GDP.

When Should Wheat Be Sown in Pakistan?

Wheat in irrigated Punjab should be sown between 1 and 20 November, with sowing still possible up to 30 November and late sowing completed by 10 December, according to the Punjab production plan for wheat 2023-24. Barani wheat in Punjab is sown between 15 October and 15 November in the same document.

Sowing date is the single largest controllable factor in wheat yield. The PARC wheat cultivation booklet puts the loss at 12 to 16 kg per acre for every day of delay after 20 November, and states that wheat sown in early January loses up to 50 percent of its yield. The Punjab 2023-24 plan explains the mechanism: late sown wheat germinates more slowly, produces fewer tillers, and reaches grain filling in the March and April heat, when above normal temperature cuts grain number, grain size and grain weight.

Some Punjab varieties carry their own narrower windows in the 2023-24 plan. Fakhr-e-Bhakkar-17 is sown 15 to 25 October. Bhakkar Star-19 is sown 1 to 10 November. Nishan-21 is sown across the whole of November. Urooj-22, Dilkash-20, Akbar-19, Anaj-17, Zincol-16, Johar-16, Borlaug-16, Ujala-16 and Faisalabad-2008 can be sown from 1 November to 10 December.

The PARC booklet gives province wise windows and seed rates, listed in the table below. The two sources do not agree on Punjab: PARC opens the Punjab window on 20 October and sets a flat 50 kg per acre, while the Punjab 2023-24 plan makes 1 to 20 November the best window at 40 to 45 kg per acre. The Punjab plan is the later and more local document.

Windows and rates in the table above are from the PARC wheat cultivation booklet, which carries no printed year.

Which Wheat Varieties Are Recommended in Pakistan?

Punjab approves 20 wheat varieties for irrigated areas and 7 for barani areas in the 2023-24 production plan, and Urooj-22 carries the highest yield potential at 76 maunds per acre. One maund is 40 kg as printed in the booklet, so 76 maunds per acre is 3,040 kg per acre.

Yield potential and achieved yield are different numbers and should not be confused. The same booklet records the Punjab five year average yield rising from 28.62 maunds per acre in 2018-19 to 33.14 maunds per acre in 2022-23, against variety potentials of 60 to 80 maunds per acre. The 2022-23 figure came off 16,014 thousand acres producing 21,225 thousand tonnes, a 7.3 percent gain on the previous year that the Crop Reporting Service Punjab attributed to earlier sowing, favourable March and April temperature, and wider use of rust resistant varieties.

Every yield figure in the table above is the yield potential printed in the Punjab production plan for wheat 2023-24. Variety recommendations are revised every season, so check the current year plan before buying seed.

The seven barani varieties approved by Punjab for 2023-24 are Urooj-22, Nishan-21, MA-21, Markaz-19, Barani-17, Fateh Jang-16 and Pakistan-13. The Agriculture Information Directorate Punjab feature on barani wheat cultivation, which carries no printed year but refers to 2021-22 subsidies, lists Ehsan-16 in place of Nishan-21. Punjab Seed Corporation supply is heavily concentrated: of 845,205 bags of 50 kg of certified seed listed in the 2023-24 plan, Akbar-19 alone accounts for 489,307 bags.

What Is the Seed Rate and Seed Treatment for Wheat?

Wheat seed rate in Punjab is 40 to 45 kg per acre for sowing between 1 and 20 November, 50 kg per acre for sowing between 21 November and 10 December, and 55 to 60 kg per acre for wheat broadcast into standing cotton, per the 2023-24 production plan. The rate assumes germination above 85 percent and must be raised if germination falls below that.

A denser stand also suppresses weeds, which is why the Punjab plan treats the higher late sowing rate as a weed control measure as well as a yield measure.

Seed treatment is compulsory in both booklets. The PARC booklet names three alternatives at the rate of one only: Topsin-M at 2 grams per kg of seed, Derosal at 2 millilitres per kg of seed, or Raxil 2DS at 1.50 grams per kg of seed. The Punjab barani feature instead prescribes a combination of thiophanate-methyl at 2 to 2.5 grams plus tebuconazole at 2 millilitres per kg of seed. Both target loose smut, Karnal bunt, wheat blast and foot rot. Confirm current seed dressing and pesticide recommendations with your provincial agriculture extension department before buying anything, because approved active ingredients change between seasons and these two booklets already disagree on whether to use one product or two.

Dressing is done in a rotating drum, or in a sack filled no more than half to two thirds so the seed can move and take an even coat. Sowing depth must not exceed 2.5 inches with a drill, and must not exceed 1 inch where seed is drilled into dry soil and irrigated immediately. Neither booklet prints a row to row or plant to plant spacing for wheat, so no spacing figure is given here.

How Is Land Prepared for Wheat in Pakistan?

Land preparation for wheat begins with levelling, a pre sowing irrigation called راؤنی, and two to three ploughings with planking once the soil reaches working moisture, called وتر. The Punjab 2023-24 plan recommends a laser land leveller, and dividing large fields into small basins before the pre sowing irrigation so that less water is used and applied evenly.

Wheat follows cotton, rice, sugarcane or maize on most Punjab land, and the plan gives three methods for the cotton, maize and sugarcane sequence. In the moisture method, the field is watered 15 to 20 days before the previous crop is cleared, then ploughed twice with one rotavator pass and planking, then drilled. In the dry method the field is ploughed twice with a rotavator or disc harrow pass, drilled at no more than 1 inch depth, and irrigated afterwards, which suits light and sandy soils but not heavy soils. In the third method the field is irrigated and seed soaked for 4 to 6 hours is broadcast into standing water, which suits saline sodic land because standing water dilutes the salt effect.

Wheat after rice needs its own sequence. Irrigation of the rice crop stops 15 to 25 days before rice harvest so the land is at working moisture when the rice comes off. A single rotavator pass incorporates the rice stubble, followed by two ploughings and planking. Both booklets prohibit burning rice residue, on the grounds that burning removes the nitrogen, phosphorus and potash held in the straw along with soil microorganisms.

Three machine methods shorten the turnaround. A zero tillage drill, Pak Seeder or happy seeder sows wheat directly after rice or any other crop without land preparation, which saves preparation cost and guarantees timely sowing provided the soil holds enough moisture. Bed planting on پٹڑیوں saves one third of irrigation water in the PARC booklet, stops the crop lodging, and allows mustard or sugarcane to be intercropped on the beds. Ridging with a ridger three days after sowing helps on clay and rice soils that do not absorb water quickly, and is not suitable for sandy soils.

What Fertiliser Does Wheat Need Per Acre?

Wheat in irrigated Punjab needs 64 kg nitrogen, 46 kg phosphorus and 25 kg potash per acre on weak soil, falling to 46 kg nitrogen, 30 kg phosphorus and 25 kg potash on fertile soil, per the Punjab production plan for wheat 2023-24, which attributes the doses to the Soil Fertility Research Institute Lahore.

A 50 kg bag of urea carries 23 kg of nitrogen, a bag of DAP carries 9 kg of nitrogen and 23 kg of phosphorus, and a bag of potassium sulphate carries 25 kg of potash, so the bag combinations above balance against the stated nutrient totals.

Timing separates irrigated from barani wheat. On irrigated land all the phosphorus and potash and the first split of nitrogen go in at sowing, and the rest of the nitrogen goes with the first or second irrigation, split into two or three doses and into more doses on sandy soils where leaching is higher. On barani land the whole dose goes in at land preparation before sowing, because there is no irrigation to carry it later. The PARC booklet sets the nitrogen to phosphorus ratio at 1 to 1 up to 1 to 1.5, and states that potash is necessary on sandy soils, on tubewell irrigated land, and on wheat after rice.

Micronutrients and organic matter carry their own figures. Punjab recommends zinc sulphate at 33 percent grade at 5 kg per acre and boric acid at 17 percent grade at 2.50 kg per acre, applied at sowing, and instructs growers to skip the zinc if the previous crop received it. The PARC booklet gives 6 kg zinc sulphate and 2.40 kg boric acid instead. Both recommend 8 to 10 tonnes of well rotted farmyard manure per acre, which is 3 to 4 trolley loads, or a green manure crop of jantar, guar or mung ploughed in at flowering.

How Many Irrigations Does Wheat Need?

Irrigated wheat in Punjab needs three irrigations, at 20 to 25 days, 80 to 90 days and 125 to 130 days after sowing, per the 2023-24 production plan, with the second at booting and the third at the start of grain formation.

The first irrigation comes later after rice because rice stubble land holds more moisture and the delay lets the roots aerate and the plant tiller. Thal and other hot sandy tracts need about six irrigations, at 20 to 25, 40 to 45, 70 to 75, 90 to 95, 110 to 115 and 130 to 135 days after sowing. In continuously hot dry weather the Punjab plan allows one extra irrigation between the first and second and between the second and third, and it instructs growers to complete the last irrigation by 25 March. Wheat draws on the canal network described in the guide to the irrigation system of Pakistan, which commands 18 million hectares.

How Are Weeds Controlled in Wheat?

Weeds cut wheat yield by 20 to 25 percent in the Punjab 2023-24 plan and by 12 to 35 percent in the PARC booklet, which makes weed control the cheapest yield gain available to most growers. The Punjab plan requires every Field Assistant to lay at least one weed control demonstration plot for this reason.

Wheat carries two weed groups جڑی بوٹیاں, and the herbicide is chosen by group. The narrow leaf or grassy group named in the PARC booklet is wild oat and littleseed canary grass, called جنگلی جئی and دمبی سٹی. The broadleaf group is wild safflower, wild onion, dock, fumitory and field bindweed, called پوہلی, پیازی, جنگلی پالک, شاہترہ and لہلی.

Timing follows the group. The Punjab plan sprays grassy weeds before the first irrigation and broadleaf weeds after the second irrigation, and notes that products covering both groups can be applied to a crop of 40 to 45 days. Mechanical control works as well: running a harrow twice after the first irrigation at working moisture kills weeds and conserves moisture, and dry hoeing by hand cleans a small area where labour is available.

Neither booklet names a single herbicide product or a per acre dose. Both defer to the agriculture extension and pest warning staff and to the product label, so no herbicide name appears on this page. Both do specify the spray setup: 100 to 120 litres of water per acre, a flat fan or T jet nozzle, a calibrated sprayer, no double spraying and no gaps, no spraying in wind, fog or rain, and no use of sprayed weeds as fodder. Confirm the current recommended herbicide with the provincial agriculture extension department before spraying.

Which Pests and Diseases Attack Wheat in Pakistan?

The main wheat pest in Pakistan is the aphid سست تیلہ, which peaks from mid February into March and shrivels the grain in a severe attack. The Punjab 2023-24 plan states plainly that agricultural pesticides should never be used on the wheat crop, and gives no per acre insecticide dose anywhere.

Aphid control is biological in both booklets. Ladybird beetles, lacewings, spiders, syrphid flies and parasitoids normally hold aphid numbers down, and the Punjab plan builds them up by sowing two lines of mustard or canola at 100 foot intervals through the wheat field, which also yields a second crop. Timely sowing, balanced fertiliser and a high pressure water spray are the other measures given.

Five more insects and two vertebrate pests appear in the pest section. Termite دیمک attacks roots, is worse in barani areas, and is treated at the pre sowing irrigation or with irrigation water afterwards. Cutworm hides in clods by day and cuts seedlings at ground level at night. Black ant carries seed away at sowing. Pink borer overwinters in rice stubble and dries the central shoot in rice areas. American bollworm moves in from cotton and eats the grain in March and April. Rats are baited with one part zinc phosphide to twenty parts flour or boiled wheat, or fumigated with one tablet per burrow. Birds are kept off with netting, scarecrows and cloth flags.

Rust کنگی is the defining wheat disease. The PARC booklet names three types in Pakistan, yellow stripe rust, brown leaf rust and black stem rust, and states that yellow rust spots sit in parallel rows on the leaf while brown rust spots are round and scattered. Control is genetic and cultural: sow resistant recommended varieties, sow three or four varieties rather than one across a large area, sow in November rather than late, avoid excess nitrogen and excess seed rate, and use potash to raise resistance. Karnal bunt, loose smut, foot rot and powdery mildew are all handled through resistant varieties and seed dressing. Wheat blast has not yet been recorded in Pakistan but has appeared in Bangladesh and India, spreads at 25 to 30 degrees Celsius with 25 to 40 hours of continuous leaf wetness, and travels in the seed.

All pesticide, fungicide and rodenticide guidance on this page is taken from the Punjab production plan for wheat 2023-24 and the undated PARC wheat cultivation booklet. Approved active ingredients are revised regularly, so confirm current recommendations with the provincial agriculture extension department before purchase or application.

How Is Barani Wheat Grown in Pakistan?

Barani wheat بارانی is rainfed wheat, sown 15 October to 15 November in Punjab at 40 to 50 kg per acre, with the entire fertiliser dose applied at land preparation before sowing. Barani management is moisture management, because there is no irrigation to correct a mistake later.

Moisture conservation starts in the monsoon. The PARC booklet ploughs deep once at the start of the monsoon so the soil stores rain to depth, then ploughs after every subsequent rain to kill weeds and seal moisture. The Punjab plan uses a mould board or chisel plough after the first monsoon rain for the same purpose. Immediately before sowing, both plough twice and give heavy planking so working moisture rises to the top layer, then sow with a drill. Green manuring is the second lever: jantar or guar sown in June and ploughed in between 15 and 20 August raises fertility, raises moisture holding capacity and suppresses kharif weeds.

Barani fertiliser is zoned, but the two sources zone it differently and this is the sharpest disagreement in the corpus. The Punjab 2023-24 plan zones by annual rainfall and names districts inside each band, giving 32 kg nitrogen, 23 kg phosphorus and 12 kg potash per acre for the low rainfall band covering the barani tracts of Rajanpur, Layyah, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, Bhakkar, Mianwali and Khushab, rising to 48, 34 and 25 for the high rainfall band covering Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum, Narowal, Gujrat, Kharian and Shakargarh. The Agriculture Information Directorate feature uses the same district groups but a different urea and potash split, and the PARC booklet zones by rainfall in millimetres with a full bag of potassium sulphate in every band. The PARC booklet also recommends gypsum at 10 bags per acre on barani land, and notes that termite pressure is heavier in barani areas than under irrigation.

When Is Wheat Harvested and Stored?

Wheat is harvested when the crop is fully ripe and grain moisture is no higher than 16 to 17 percent, and stored only once moisture falls to 9 to 10 percent, per the PARC wheat cultivation booklet. High yielding new varieties are cut two to three days earlier than older varieties.

The Punjab plan gives a field test for storage moisture: press a grain between the teeth, and if it cracks sharply the moisture is right, otherwise dry it further in the sun. Bundles are tied small with the ear heads facing one direction, stacks are kept small and placed on high ground, and harvesting stops during rain. Grain loss during threshing is checked by watching the machine, because broken grain attracts storage insects sooner.

Storage protection carries the only other named chemical in the corpus. Aluminium phosphide is used at 30 to 35 tablets per 1,000 cubic feet of store, the store is sealed completely and kept closed for at least seven days, and nobody enters for 4 to 6 hours after opening. Household grain bins take 2 to 3 tablets per tonne, kept closed at least ten days. Stores are fumigated twice a year, once at filling and once in the rainy season when moisture rises. Hermetic bags and cocoons are recommended as an alternative that needs no fumigation at all. Crop residue must never be burnt, and a wheat straw chopper turns combine harvested residue into fodder instead.

FAQs About Wheat Cultivation in Pakistan

What is the best time to sow wheat in Pakistan?

Irrigated Punjab sows between 1 and 20 November, per the Punjab production plan for wheat 2023-24. Barani Punjab sows 15 October to 15 November. Sindh sows through November.

How much wheat seed is needed per acre?

Punjab recommends 40 to 45 kg per acre for November sowing and 50 kg per acre for sowing up to 10 December, assuming germination above 85 percent. Wheat broadcast into standing cotton takes 55 to 60 kg.

Which wheat variety gives the highest yield in Pakistan?

Urooj-22 carries the highest printed yield potential in the Punjab 2023-24 plan at 76 maunds per acre, or 3,040 kg per acre. Nishan-21, Bhakkar Star-19 and Anaj-17 reach 75 to 80 maunds.

How many irrigations does wheat need in Punjab?

Three irrigations, at 20 to 25, 80 to 90 and 125 to 130 days after sowing. Thal and hot sandy areas need about six. The last irrigation should finish by 25 March.

What fertiliser is used for wheat per acre?

Weak soil takes 2 bags DAP, 2 bags urea and 1 bag potassium sulphate per acre, which is 64 kg nitrogen, 46 kg phosphorus and 25 kg potash, per the Punjab plan for 2023-24.

Last Thoughts on Wheat Cultivation in Pakistan

Wheat cultivation in Pakistan turns on four numbers that a grower controls directly. Sowing date is first, because every day after 20 November costs 12 to 16 kg per acre and January sowing costs half the crop. Seed rate is second, at 40 to 45 kg per acre in the November window and 50 kg thereafter. Fertiliser is third, at 64 kg nitrogen and 46 kg phosphorus per acre on weak soil with all the phosphorus placed at sowing. Irrigation is fourth, at 20 to 25, 80 to 90 and 125 to 130 days. Punjab averaged 33.14 maunds per acre in 2022-23 against variety potentials of 60 to 80 maunds, which is the size of the gap these four decisions close. Every figure here comes from Punjab and PARC extension booklets that are already one to three seasons old, so the sowing calendar holds while the variety list and the chemical recommendations should be checked against the current year plan before the season starts.