Loss to agriculture

According to preliminary flood damage report, crops on around 1.72 million acres have been damaged in Punjab. The province reported losses in 22 districts, with Muzaffargarh being worst hit at around 400,000 acres followed by Rajanpur with 350,000 acres. As far as crop-wise damages are concerned, cotton took the biggest hit with 860,356 acres. Fodder on 265,000 acres was the second major loser, sugarcane third with 220,000 acres and rice fourth with 170,000 acres. Moong was the fifth biggest crop damaged by floods with 130,000 acres. Vegetables and mango losses have also been reported at 23,189 acres and 3,981 acres respectively, and citrus at 11,312 acres. Other crops like mash and maize also suffered damage, but they were largely overshadowed by other huge losses. Meanwhile, the government has announced a number of incentives for farmers to enable them to recover the losses and grow essential crops to meet the country’s food requirements. These incentives were discussed at a meeting presided over by President Zardari. The meeting decided to encourage farmers to sow canola early next month and help them with seed and other inputs and land preparation.

These estimates have been collected at the initial stage and they would definitely go up. They would increase many times when the provinces will be able to assess exact loss to crops and livestock. It is feared that the country might experience a food crisis in the near future because of widespread damage to various crops. Floods have destroyed about 500,000 tonnes of wheat and also hit sugar and cotton supplies. One estimate is that up to 500,000 tonnes of wheat stocked with the people has been washed away. A 600,000 tonnes of wheat with the Food Ministry has been damaged or destroyed. Flooding has also destroyed up to two million bales of cotton. Refined sugar could also fall by 500,000 tonnes because of damage to the crop. At present, over 30 percent of livestock farmers do not have access to fodder, thus making animals the most threatened species in post-flood scenario. The biggest worries which these losses to major crops have evoked are about fodder and cotton targets. It will directly contribute to increasing poverty in rural areas, where livestock is often the only factor standing between wretched poverty and farmers. Already a large number of people are living below the poverty line in Pakistan.

There are still many areas where no such assessment has been made so far. In this regard, mountainous areas of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan are the best examples. Moreover, these estimates are of Punjab only where the flood water has receded. At present flood water is passing through Sindh, causing widespread damage not only to human beings but also to the standing crops. It will definitely take some time to assess the actual damage. It is also a fact that Pakistan could take years to recover from the effects of floods. Ministry of Food and Agriculture should assess agricultural losses, including the loss of stored seeds and other agricultural items, and suggest measures to compensate the losses during the Kharif crop with the coming Rabi crop. Farmers in the affected areas should be provided maximum help in procurement of seed and other required items for their crops. The Punjab govt has taken a laudable step by announcing writing off loans of small farmers. Other provinces should provide similar facilities to their farmers. In addition to this Zarai Tarqiati Bank should announce soft-term loans to assist farmers of affected areas.

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on Aug 26 2010. Filed under Business, Local. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.