Shocking indeed it is to learn from a Recorder Report that the government has failed to rescue the cotton crop already caught in a mealy bug attack in various districts. The shock is the greater because of the fact that learning the right lessons from the first mealy bug attack last year.
When it wrought unprecedented havoc, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) had approved over Rs 26 billion pilot project far ahead in April to avert a major devastation this season. In so far as the intensity of mealy bug attack is concerned, as first observed in 2006, it damaged not cotton crop alone but also affected other crops, including horticultural products, vegetables, such as tomato, brinjal, okra, chilli, tobacco, ornamental plants, weeds, fodder, and fruits, posing a serious threat to the agriculture sector.
But as ill luck would have it the project has remained starved of funds for the last six months, thereby hampering its speedy execution. The project, approved in an emergency situation in April and marked for implementation within 15 months, thus still practically remains a non-starter.
It is, however, another matter that Finance Ministry had been considerate enough, about a couple of months back, to release some initial funding for the project, but the money has yet to reach the officials executing the project.
Intriguing though all this may appear to be, such delays are simply unavoidable because of the traditional bureaucratic red tape that binds parts of various stages together. In so far as the release of funds is concerned, the process introduced by the Planning and Development (P&D) Division has been characterised as too lengthy.
Subsequent to the approval of a project, the concerned executing agencies take around two months in submitting its work plan and budget to P&D. Thereafter, the issue of release of funds is taken up with the Finance Ministry, which transfers the amount to AGPR.
In some cases, the release of the amount may be withheld either by MoF or the AGPR after it has gone past the strenuous process in the P&D. An idea of how disquieting the outcome of such a feet dragging exercise can really be reference has been made in our afore-mentioned report, to surveys pointing to commencement of the mealy bug attack and possibility of destruction of cotton crop in Sindh and Punjab.
To avert in time such a gruesome eventually, among other preventative measures, Minfal had approved this project as early as April last. Minfal had also set up seven organisations, all of them tasked to devise a workable formula to help avert the mealy bug attack on the cotton crop.
However, although those organisations are doing their assigned job, Minfal does not have enough money to pay to the people working there. Yet, understandably, Minfal is reportedly planning to prepare another five-year project, estimated to cost around Rs 500 million. Its formation would largely depend upon the input obtained from the pilot project, which has been languishing far behind simply for lack of funds. Perhaps, there is still time to avert a disaster by rushing in funds and cutting the red tape right where it is.