MULTAN,Jan 12th:The bellow normal winter rains are likely to reduce wheat production in upcoming Rabi season 2010 by almost 50 per cent or one million tons in South Punjab and other irrigated areas, a senior official in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture told here on Tuesday. The Federal Minster for Food and Agriculture Nazar Muhammad Gondal the other day had said that the irrigated land under wheat cultivation has increased by 30 percent as against the set target for the 2009-2010 crop. He also said that the wheat sowing in rain-fed area has decreased by 20 percent due to continuous dry spell.Despite 30 per cent increase in wheat sowing area in the region irrigated by the canal system of Indus basin and only 20 per cent decline in land under wheat cultivation areas due to unfavourable climate, why the government is not expecting to cross the wheat production target? It indicates, besides low rain there were policy issues that hindered wheat growth.The official claimed that with better management, ample availability of DAP and urea fertilisers at low prices, land levelling, use of herbicides would help in attaining wheat production target of 25 million tons.It is feared that per acre yield would go down dramatically this season. As one-third increase in wheat sowing area, instead of increasing total production would just enable the economy to achieve the target.According to source, due to no rain and inadequate moisture in soil most of the farmers were reluctant to sow wheat in barani areas during the sowing season of November and December 2009. Besides, the prevailing dry spell would also affect the yield of already sown wheat, he said. This was reason the government was now expecting only a million ton wheat from rain-fed areas instead of two million tons, which it gets each year.Government has targeted wheat production of 19.2 million tons in Punjab, 3.68 million tons in Sindh, 1.21 million tons in NWFP and 0.90 million tons in Balochistan