Pakistan’s grapes are cultivated on a 15,302 hectare area, while annual productivity is 64,317 tonnes. Balochistan grows most of the grapes. However, with the efforts of the Agriculture Institute Chakwal, warmer areas such as Multan, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan have started to the grow the fruit on a large scale.Grapes grown in Rahim Yar Khan are also available in the market. Thanks to the taste, local gardeners are making decent returns on the crop.While speaking to Express News, Minthar’s gardener Imran Mughal, agricultural expert Munir Hussain and Muhammad Hanif, said a farmer can earn millions of rupees from one acre of land due to good crop turnover of the local grapes.They said Royal, Thomson Seedless, Cardinal, Kings Ruby, White Seedless, Early White and Perlit are the important and most liked grapes.They advised farmers and growers to get a plant from a garden that has good fruit instead of buying a grape plant from the nursery. They said the the grape plant can be grown twice; in January and February and likewise in March and April.They said there is less need of irrigation, while a medium-sized fertile land is suitable for setting up grape gardens.The agriculture experts said the crop should be protected from Bhar, mealeybug and Blue Bird attacks as they damage the crop. They added grape cultivation could yield maximum profits.Earlier, a farmer from Chakwal, Mohammad Niaz, not only grew grapes across seven acres of land, but also managed exceptionally good returns on his investment.A few years ago, the prospect of cultivating grapes in this northern part of Punjab was unimaginable, but the trend changed when the World Bank and the provincial government joined hands to improve farming standards and usher in new farming technologies.Niaz is among those lucky farmers who were picked for the implementation of the first phase of the Punjab Irrigated Agriculture Improvement Programme. The initiative was funded by World Bank with a loan of $250 million.The Punjab government offered 60% subsidy to farmers for introducing new techniques. In order to qualify, the farmer had to contribute 40% to the cost, which alone made most farmers ineligible due to very high equipment charges upfront.However, the programme was meant to offer an opportunity to small farmers to adopt modern technologies to cope with the growing water crisis, besides increasing agriculture yield.Grape cultivation through drip irrigation benefits the farmer, as well as the country, through 50% water saving, 45% reduction in fertiliser cost and almost 100% increase in per acre yield.Published in The Express Tribune, May 24, 2018.