The government has failed to rescue the cotton crop facing mealy bug attack in various districts as the development project aimed at controlling the outbreak is without any funding for the last around six months, sources told Business Recorder.
They said that the pilot project that was approved in April could not get any funding for the last six months that hinders its speedy executions. According to them, the project, costing over Rs 26 billion, was approved in emergency so that it could be implemented with 15 months. But, during the first six months, the project got no funding from the public exchequer, they added. They said that the Ministry of Finance (MoF) did not withhold the release of the funds. About two months back, the MoF had release some initial funding for the project, but the released amount so far did not reach the officials who are executing the project.
According to sources, there is a lengthy process of fund releasing introduced by the Planning and Development (P&D) Division. After approval of the project, the concerned authorities (the executing agencies) take around two months in furnishing work plan and budget of a project to P&D. This is followed by taking up the releasing issue with MoF and it release the amount to AGPR. In some cases, the released amount is withheld either by MoF or the AGPR after it gets through the troublesome process in the P&D.
According to some reports, the mealy bug has started destroying cotton crop in Sindh and Punjab. According to sources, the bug has attacked the cotton belt of Sindh and Balochistan. Apart from other measures, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) had approved this project in anticipation in April, so that precautionary steps could be taken well ahead of any attack.
Under the project, the Minfal established seven organisations tasked to find a formula to avoid the mealy bug attack on the cotton crop. These organisations are suggesting to the farmers to save the cotton crop. However, according to sources, the Minfal is not having money to pay to the people working in seven organisations.
Not only in Sindh and Balochistan, the mealy bug was observed in 2006. It not only damaged the cotton crop but also affected other crops including horticultural crops. It attacked vegetables like tomato, brinjal, okra, crops like chilli, tobacco, fruits, ornamental plants, weeds, fodder and is serious threat to the agriculture. According to sources, the Minfal is also planning to prepare another five-year project. The project has been estimated to cost around Rs 500 million. Sources said that this project would largely depend upon the input from the pilot project, which has to get funding as yet.
Comments
Comments are closed.