Former Federal Minister Alhaj Sikandar Hayat Bosan has said that recent devastating floods across the country have caused damage worth Rs 250 billion to the agriculture sector with maximum losses suffered by the small farmers of around Rs 100 billion, while some facing total annihilation of their crops.
Talking to newsmen here on Wednesday, the former Minister did not agree with the initial estimate prepared by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MinFA) in co-ordination with the provincial governments and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K) government.
He said the estimate of agriculture loss could be higher in Southern Punjab and some parts of Sindh as clear pictures from many areas have yet not been received. He said that maximum damage by the floods has been made to the minor crops of Kharif season, which includes cotton, jawar, maize, moong and mash pulses and some citrus fruit varieties.
"This loss is the most serious setback for the farming community because most of the small farmers have lost considerable number of livestock too as they had limited facility for their animals", he added. Among the major cash crops the ministry's report highlighted that the largest loss of Rs 71.4 billion has been occurred by the cotton crop. He said that cotton was sown over 3.1 hectares in the current Kharif season out of which the floods have destroyed crops at 0.51 million hectares, as a result the production is expected to decline by almost 15 percent to 11.7 million bales as against the targeted cotton production of 14 million bales in 2010.
The Minister for Food and Agriculture Nazar Muhammad Gondal has said that Pakistan will face serious cotton shortage in coming days as more than 15 percent of the crop has already been hit by the floods. "Two million bales have been destroyed in the floods in Punjab alone and we have yet to receive the complete details," the minister added.
The cotton crop has been seriously damaged in Bakkhar, Layyah and Mianwali districts apart from many other areas in southern districts of Punjab. While the left bank of River Indus in Sindh is the Cotton Belt and the cotton crops have suffered in Sukkur, Khairpur, Ghotki, Naushero Feroze and Benazirabad districts. The paddy crops in the country have faced a loss of Rs 56.3 billion and the worst hit areas are Right Bank districts of Sindh.
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