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Editorial land Taking stock "…serious
food security issues could arise" sindh kp Cultivating
crises
Pakistan is not yet over and done with its worst ever floods. But the impact is so colossal that it demands quick analyses and even quicker solutions. As the floods continue to cause devastation in the province of Sindh, it is perhaps time to look beyond the immediate relief and rescue operations involving lives to the more sustained damage to livelihoods. Pakistan is an economy that thrives on agriculture. Like other agricultural economies, the small industrial base that it has is dependent on agriculture and livestock -- be it sugar, textile or leather industry. Therefore the damage to agriculture and land caused by these floods is and ought to be the foremost concern of the people, experts and the government. According to official estimates, the losses incurred on crops and land amount to Rs240 billion, excluding the livestock sector. Apart from the loss of standing crops, there has been a total devastation of agriculture infrastructure, including water channels and tube wells. Massive land erosion is the worst problem being faced by the farmer today. The issues related to agriculture sector form a part of today’s Special Report. They must begin with the levelling of land. Again, according to official figures, around five million acres of agricultural land is destroyed out of a total of 23 million agricultural land in the country. Unofficial sources think the figures are much higher. It may take months and in some cases years to prepare this land for agricultural purposes and the poor farmer may not be able to afford the financial inputs. As pointed out by researcher Mushtaq Gadi, we have a serious institutional crisis because there is not a single institution in the country that looks after the problems of land itself. Here a collective effort by the government and international organisations may thus be required, he suggests. The destruction of standing crops or grain, like cotton and sugarcane and rice and stocks of wheat may have serious food security related repercussions. Especially because the rural economy thrives on crops alone. One hopes that the government is alive to the challenges ahead and will come forward and hold the hand of its farmers to put the country’s agriculture back on track. So that the fields of doubt in people’s minds are shed and farmers return to their lands with a sense of confidence.
preparation Fields of doubt Leveling and preparation of flood-hit lands are a huge burden on the farmers and require a great deal of financial and physical input By Aoun Sahi The ministry of food and agriculture has put the initial damages caused to the agriculture sector by the devastating floods at Rs 244.6 billion with maximum losses suffered by small farmers. The damages, according to the ministry officials, include
annihilation of the standing crops, livestock and homes. These are seemingly
the main items destroyed, but there is another important item that has
suffered at the hands of the disastrous flood waters, so far not included in
the damages stated -- the agricultural land. According to official figures,
so far the floods have damaged around five million acres of agricultural
land out of a total of 23 million under cultivation area in the country. The farmers’ community, on the other hand, believes the original figure is higher (than the official one). "Almost 6 million acres of the agricultural land in Sindh alone has been hit by the floods while 4 million acres has been hit in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa," says Abdul Majeed Nizamani, President, Sindh Abadgar Board. In Sindh, there are three main breaches on the Indus; one that has emerged between Guddu and Sukkur barrages is the hugest. "So far, more than 8.5 million cusec water has been passed through this breach alone, submerging millions of acres of fertile agricultural land. I don’t believe the government will be able to fill these breaches before the third week of September 2010, which means there will be no time to cultivate the next crop. Some of the agricultural land in Sindh, however, may benefit from the flood waters, but I believe it will also cause the issue of water logging in parts of the province," he says, adding that the main problem being faced by the farmers at this point is uncertainty about the cultivation of the next crop. "The land out of the flood zones is also faced with the issue of water scarcity because irrigation infrastructure has been badly damaged. It needs months to repair, which means that it will not be easy to cultivate the next crop even in areas that are out of flood zones." For the farmers in the flood-hit areas, damages to the standing crop are a gone issue. "For me the most devastating thing is the destruction caused to my agricultural land. It has badly affected the level of the fields while low-lying fields have been reduced to marsh. Blackish water stands there, causing water-logging like situation," says Muhammad Ibrahim, a resident of Amman Pur village in district Muzaffargarh and the owner of 18 acres of agricultural land, talking to TNS. There is a strong perception that flood water always brings fertility to the lands it hits, but experts don’t agree. "There will be different impacts of flood water on agriculture in different areas. It can bring fertility to some fields but for others it can be devastating and leave clay deposit and layers of unfriendly salts besides disturbing the level of the fields," says Dr Anwar ul Hassan, director of the Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. Anwar believes that it can take months and, in some cases, at least a year to prepare such land for agricultural purposes. "It will be very difficult to cultivate the next crop even if the flood water has not left the clay deposit or salts on the land. The standing crop is also a problem; it needs to be decomposed or destroyed before the sowing of the next crop which is not going to be an easy task at all. Land erosion will be another issue after the flood water has receded." He also thinks that a lot of resources, man power, expertise and modern machinery are needed to reclaim the land hit by flood water for agricultural purposes. "The flood water can contaminate the underground water sources, having passed through pesticide-sprayed crops to residential areas, as it carries toxic chemical residue. Land leveling and preparation even in normal times are a big task for the farmers and require a lot of financial and physical inputs. Prior to floods, the rate of hiring a tractor for land plough was Rs 500-600 per hour in the areas. "I strongly believe the rates will be doubled for the same in the aftermath of the floods," says Mushtaq Gadi, an engaged researcher who works at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, and is involved in many a rural livelihood struggle in Punjab and Sindh areas that are hit by floods. Tractor takes between an hour-and-half to two hours to prepare a normal acre of land for cultivation. The time will also be doubled for the first plough after the floods which means small farmers may have to spend at least Rs 3,000 to prepare one acre of land for the next crop. Land leveling is even more expensive and needs sophisticated machines." According to Gadi, preparing and leveling land in flood-hit areas is going to be a gigantic task as there is not even a single institute or authority at any level in the country responsible for looking after the issues and problems of the agricultural land. "Land preparation is the most expensive part of agriculture," he adds. To illustrate his claim, he says that the cost of building Chasma Link Canal was Rs 35 billion in 2004. "When the government approached the construction company to get the catchments areas leveled, they estimated a hefty cost of Rs 12 billion for the purpose." However, Gadi does not think the small farmers have the resources or the expertise to deal with the issue in the aftermath of floods. "What is required is a collective effort from the government, the farmers as well as international organisations." The government officials, both at provincial and federal levels, admit that land preparation in the wake of the floods is not a priority for the government. They don’t deem cultivation of the next crop to be an issue. "In Punjab, the area under cultivation for wheat crop is usually around 15 million acres whereas the flood-hit area here is only 2 million acres. So, it will not be an issue for the province," says a senior official of the Punjab Agriculture department. He believes the people will get Rs 20,000 in the next two or three weeks which will help them to prepare the land for the next crop. Deputy Agriculture Development Commissioner of Ministry of Food and Agriculture also agrees that the "next crop will not be an issue. You need to know that flood waters always increase the fertility of the agriculture land at least by 50 percent and that the farmers are only needed to seed and get the bumper prize. We have enough seeds to distribute among the farmers and will also distribute two bags of fertilizers in addition to Rs 2000 to each farmer for land preparation." He says that there may be water-logging in some areas "but it will not be huge".
Having lost crucial food stocks to floods, villagers countrywide face one crisis after another By Shahzada Irfan Ahmed Where the recent floods destroyed whatever came their way, they also made the sustenance of the rural populace uncertain by washing away huge food stocks, cattle-head and poultry once available with them. These stocks are of great importance in Pakistan’s
rural setting where farmers need to produce enough grain (mostly wheat and
rice) to satisfy household demands as well as meet other obligations. Even
those who do not have land holdings buy grain stocks to meet the annual or
seasonal dietary demands of their households. The cattle and chicken, on the
other hand, are sources of major food nutrients including milk, butter,
ghee, eggs and meat. The food stocks are also critical for the reason that farm workers, labour, cooks, barbers, cobblers etc are still paid in kind in most rural parts of the country. For this very reason, the rural population of the country indulges in minimal cash transactions and is content with barter trade in most cases. The need for cash arises in select situations, for instance when there is a need to buy fertilisers and pesticides from the market. A major issue during the flood rescue mission has been the affectees’ insistence to carry their food stocks and cattle with them when evacuating -- something which was neither possible nor on the priority list of the rescuers. Many people are still perched on their rooftops with piles of grain lying beside them, praying for the flood water to recede. They fear that in case they leave the place alone they might not find anything on their return. These fears are not unfounded as everyday there are reports of people coming on boats and snatching away food stocks from those stranded in the middle, at gunpoint. So, the lack of food stocks would undoubtedly be the biggest issue facing the displaced flood affectees when they return to rebuild their damaged houses. According to the estimates of Ibrahim Mughal, president of Agri Forum Pakistan, around 500,000 tonnes of wheat stocked with farmers has been washed away by the floods in Pakistan. This shortfall, he says, will be hard to make up for, especially when there are no seeds left and lands are not ready for sowing. The water will take at least a month to recede completely and it may be too late to plant winter wheat, which will further aggravate the situation. Mughal appeals to the government to provide the aggrieved farmers with enough seeds, fertilisers and pesticides for at least two crop cycles so they can get back on their feet. Dr Zafar Altaf, Chairman, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), is critical of wheat’s dominance in Pakistan’s agriculture sector. For this reason it is difficult to produce crops that need minimal time and water to grow and fill the food supply gaps that has emerged now. In a research article on food security in Pakistan, Zafar says the country’s crop mix emphasised coarse grains till early 1960s when wheat became Pakistan’s chief staple and has remained so to this day. He says that coarse grains (such as sorghum and millet) are the urgent requirements of the local populations in underdeveloped parts of Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. He also suggests that Pakistan offers a large diversity of environment that should be exploited. "The majority of Pakistan’s food security policies have revolved around wheat. In fact, the cropping patterns have been stagnant because four crops have taken away 93 percent of all resources. These four crops are wheat and rice as food grain crops, and cotton and sugarcane as cash crops. The remaining 7 percent goes to a plethora of crops such as horticulture, lentils, and fodder."
"…serious food security issues could arise" -- Nazar Muhammad Gondal, Minister for Food & Agriculture
By Shaiq Hussain The News on Sunday: Much has been said and written about the devastating impact of the floods on the country’s agriculture sector. Can you tell us briefly about the losses? What are the government’s estimates? Nazar Muhammad Gondal: The impact on agriculture is devastating, no doubt, but nothing concrete can be said right now as to the losses, because the floods are going on and currently Sindh is facing its wrath. However, the estimates carried so far show that the
damages are around Rs 240 billion, excluding the livestock sector. If you
include the livestock, it will take the losses much higher. Our
infrastructure is gone, water channels are destroyed, tube wells damaged and
massive land erosion has occurred. All this is apart from the damage to the
crops. If we talk about the cotton alone, about two and a half million bales
worth Rs 73 billion have been damaged whereas rice, sugarcane and other
crops are also destroyed. TNS: With millions of farmers displaced and the chances of their early return to native towns and villages very dim, don’t you think the next crop cultivation and especially the wheat sowing could get delayed which would be a threat to food security? NMG: No doubt, we have concerns about that. If your farmer can’t help his losses, rebuild the farm sector keeping in view the fact that he has no resources, then all this talk of food shortage seems to be true. Nonetheless, the government planning is very much clear. We are in the process of chalking out a comprehensive strategy for the Rabi season and it is our plan that every household and every family is being given Rs 20,000 with immediate effect so that they can return to their homes as soon as possible. I have no doubt in my mind that the government at the centre and the provinces will have to come up with all possible support for the agriculture sector. Otherwise, the economy will receive a massive jolt and the rehabilitation of millions of people will prove to be a daunting task and serious food security issues could arise. TNS: How does the government plan to revive the agriculture sector, help the farmers’ losses and extend assistance in land preparation etc? Are any consultations going on with the international financial institutions to support Pakistan in this regard? NMG: I can’t give any clear statement as of now, because we are collecting our resources and also trying to get the exact idea about the scale of the problem. Once we have a fair idea about both, the government will surely go for whatever it can to support the farmers. The agriculture ministry will fight the case of farming community at every national and international forum. I won’t say that whatever international support we are receiving currently is insufficient and unsatisfactory, but let me say that there is a room for improvement. TNS: You have talked about the future scenario of food security and concerns in this regard. Could you tell us something about the present situation and the position of wheat stocks? NMG: The floods did damage the wheat stocks of around 150,000 tonnes in the country, but still around 10 million tonnes of stocks are lying with the provinces and centre to meet the local needs. The government has also decided not to export two million tonnes of the essential food commodity. TNS: There is also another major concern that the feudal class and landlords will not allow the farmers to come back to their lands because they were already planning to get rid of them owing to the introduction of the latest farm machinery and less labour requirements. Do you agree with the notion? If so, what will the government do to stop any such occurrence? NMG: I disagree with the analysis of the so-called agriculture experts and analysts. They don’t know the ground realities. We are already facing a scarcity of labour in Central Punjab as most of it has shifted abroad which has dealt a massive blow to the farm sector there. People like us, who are from Central Punjab, couldn’t sow the cash crops such as vegetables because of lack of labourers. The machines could only be used for wheat and rice but what about other crops like vegetables? The major concern of the landowners in Sindh right now is the early return of farmers to their lands. sindh Crop of issues It is time to distribute state land among landless affectees and help them to build agriculture sector which is the backbone of our economy By Zulfiqar Shah Khan Mohammad Jamali, 50, a villager from Jacobabad district now lodged at a government-run relief camp in Hyderabad, appears devastated. The expressions on his face are no different from those of hundreds of thousands of flood victims who took up at similar camps after they lost almost everything to the merciless floods. In the camp, where most people will tell stories of
survival and loss and also ask for assistance, Jamali is always talking
about the land he and his three sons once cultivated. "This year, we
had been blessed with a bumper crop but, alas, it was meant to be
destroyed," he says, lamentingly. "You can’t imagine how much
hard work had gone into it. It was our hard luck!" Jamali, a hard working peasant, along with his three sons, was a happy cultivator of a 15-acre land and one of the few haris in Sindh who enjoyed a good working relationship with his landlord. Although he hasn’t given up the hope that he will be able to raise another crop, he says he cannot seem to overcome his previous loss. The current floods in Pakistan have incurred huge losses to human life, assets, infrastructure and crops. According to latest official figures, the total losses are estimated at around $43 billion. Despite the decline in recent decades, a major part of Pakistan economy is still dependent on agriculture sector with 21 percent share in GDP. Agriculture also employs 45 percent of Pakistan’s 52 million labour forces and is the largest source of employment and livelihood in rural areas. The flood has affected almost the entire country. In Sindh, 19 out of 23 districts have been directly affected. These districts are considered to be very fertile and had a sound base of agriculture. Those affected directly are landlords and haris like Khan Jamali but the impact of the flood will go far beyond. The common people will have to face price hike, particularly in food commodities. The federal cabinet, in its meeting on Wednesday last, has already forewarned the public about the same, due primarily to the crop destruction. The meeting which estimated overall losses worth $43 billion noted that the damage to livestock and crops had amounted to Rs 500 billions. There hasn’t been any scientific assessment of the losses and the exact figures are yet to come in. So far, the estimates released by the UN agencies and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) suggest that crops on 1.5 million acres of land have been destroyed across the country. These figures have been challenged by the private associations of landowners in both Sindh and Punjab that have released their own estimates. So, these statistics can only be considered to be initial estimates. Obviously, the losses to crops, particularly to cotton and rice, would impact other sectors as well. The cotton crop loss would impact textile sector, a major source of foreign exchange, whereas the loss to rice and sugarcane could result in short supplies of food. According to the Sindh government, the recent flood has caused losses worth Rs 112 billions to the agriculture sector alone, excluding livestock and fisheries, while crops of 7,600 acres have been washed away. These figures are of last week and may rise as waters enter new areas. The provincial governments are quick to correct each other’s estimates and there is a tendency to show more figures in a bid to seek bigger shares in international funds and those available nationally. Independent experts in Sindh, for instance, have already rejected calculations by the provincial government. "I don’t think the estimates of [Sindh] government are correct," says Jami Chandio, a civil society representative from Hyderabad. "There has been no proper assessment of the losses, so the figures can’t be called reliable." Chandio further says that most government projections are based on the number of displaced people in camps and, therefore, only 30 percent of total affectees have gotten to the camps. "The rest [70 percent of people] have not been counted or included in the government estimates." Sindh Abadgar Board, a representative body of landlords in Sindh, has estimated losses worth Rs 60 billion to the paddy crop only. Syed Mahmood Shah, a representative of the board, tells TNS that the right bank of the Indus is popular for its paddy cultivation but since most affected area is on the right bank, nearly the entire paddy crop has been destroyed. According to the Farmers Association, crops worth Rs 86 billions and the cotton growing area of about one million acres had been affected in Punjab alone because the main agricultural belt that includes Muzafargarh, Jhang, Bhakkar, Rajanpur, Rahimyar Khan and Layyah, has been badly affected. A small growers association in Sindh has demanded a compensation package. "The government must ensure that flood compensation also reaches the small growers and haris," says Zareen Khan Rind, a representative of the Sindh Progressive Abadgar Association. "This sector is the worst affected and needs special attention." Rind says that in the past, aid packages announced in the name of agriculture sector either went to industrialists or to the big landlords and small growers and haris were ignored. However, he hopes that the government will act differently this time. "You see, small landlords and haris have suffered more because they depend on crops and now we have lost crops. We also do not have other sources of income. So we need more attention." It’s important that the government gives priority to the restoration of the agriculture sector which will automatically translate in restoration of employment and livelihood. Equally important is to re-think several government policies, especially the land policy. It is time to distribute state land among landless affectees and help them to build agriculture sector which is the backbone of our economy.
The lucky few Kachha areas are expected to become more fertile The devastating floods have crippled Pakistan’s rural economy. According to the official figures released by President Asif Ali Zardari, by the end of August the floods had affected 2.6 million acres of cultivated land, the loss to crops being worth $2.35 billion in 75 districts of the country. Many experts say the reports of a lack of ability to cultivate the land for a season or two are speculated to many extents. They are hopeful that most of the affected areas will be able to cultivate wheat by October-November this year. "The land will overall be rich and fertile in all areas where water has not flown speedily," says Hamid Malhi, director of Farmers Association Pakistan. Talking to TNS, Malhi says the Kachha areas are already assumed to be fertile and the flood water will further make them fertile. He says that even though the current crops are completely destroyed by the floods, the situation will benefit the cultivated area of Sindh. "Wheat is the best crop to be sown in this situation," he maintains. The figures compiled by the Farmers Associates Pakistan (FAP), an agriculture forum of country’s farmers, say that as many as 1.6m hectare of the total of 23 million hectares cropped area of Pakistan has been affected in the recent floods. The FAP director and chief coordinator Muhammad Tariq Buchha tells TNS that the fertility in Kachha areas will depend on the situation of mud after the water has receded. He is hopeful that the water will recede in most of the areas in the next couple of months and that the soil will be rich in sowing wheat, canola and fodder in the flood affected agriculture land. "There is no danger of loss of any seasonal crop if water is drained within two months, which is highly expected in most areas," he says, adding that in the current situation, "not only Kachha areas but other cropped areas will also be very rich and fertile and good for cultivating wheat, canola and fodder." According to Buccha, it is highly important to sow fodder in order to save the remaining livestock from extinction. "We need to turn this disaster into an opportunity." He also says that wheat is the simplest crop to sow and will also be hugely beneficial to the country. "We need innovations. The situation is not easy but it’s also not impossible." He stresses the need to focus on the farmers’ rehabilitation for a greater benefit from the flood situation in the cropped areas. -- Waqar Gillani
The size of the damage Besides other sectors, agriculture and irrigation have suffered losses worth billions of rupees in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa alone By Javed Aziz Khan Floods have swept away everything in at least ten districts of Khyber-Pakhunkhwa, besides damaging crops in lands that span hundreds of thousands of acres. In addition to other sectors, agriculture and irrigation have suffered losses worth billions of rupees in KP alone. According to the provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar, ten districts have been affected the most, followed by another nine that were affected to a fairly large extent. "During the recent floods, 71 percent (54665 acres) of the area cultivated with rice was swept away while the remaining crops are at the risk of facing draught and water scarcity," he tells TNS. "The second most damaged crop is summer vegetables of which 59 percent (19144 acres) has been washed away by the violent floods," says a survey carried out by the Agriculture Cluster and director general of the agriculture extension. The survey further says that 45 percent of the maize crop and 28 percent of sugarcane all over the province have been destroyed. Though the percentage of the maize crop was 45 percent, the total crop destroyed was spread over 226,902 acres, which was more than the area of other crops. Besides, the floods also destroyed orchards over 11,419 acres and tobacco over 967 acres of land in the province. Provincial minister for agriculture Arbab Ayub Jan tells TNS that crops, vegetables and fruits cultivated in hundreds of thousands acres of land were destroyed in floods, which may create a shortage of these items in the province in the coming few months. "The water has receded but the farms and orchards are now filled with sand brought in by the floods. We have to clear these fields of the sand that can affect cultivation in the coming season." Ayub Jan rejects any doubts as to the shortage of food items in the affected areas but says the government has a stock of 300,000 metric tonnes of wheat in store that will be distributed among the affected people. This stock, he says, can last them through February 2011. "To help revive the agricultural land, we plan to clear the farms of sand, distribute food items in the affected areas to avoid food shortage, and provide financial, skilled and technical facilities to the farmers so that they can restart farming," says the minister. "I had sowed maize and rice over 170 acres of land, but the floods destroyed all the crops. Come to think of it, my family was living off these crops," says Waqar Khan, a landowner in Charsadda village. He says that thousands of acres of land in nearby villages are inundated with flood water causing a loss of millions of rupees to every farmer in the region. Small farmers are the worst affected. "We are four brothers who had rented 5 acres of land from a landowner on 50/50 basis. The floods destroyed all that and more," says Nizamuddin whose house was also swept away by the floods. "One thing the government needs to do on an urgent basis is to provide fertilisers to the surviving crops of maize and rice, vegetable seeds, potato seeds, wheat seeds and winter fodder seeds, besides assuring support to agro-based enterprises and value-chain development," says Karimullah Khan, an agriculture expert. The irrigation system, according to Karimullah, collapsed during the first month of the floods. Swat suffered the most where all the watercourses and canals were swept away, followed by Peshawar and Shangla districts. "A total of 6,249 irrigation structures were either destroyed or badly damaged during the course of the floods all over Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa," says Adnan Khan, media manager for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). Out of these, 2,482 were in Swat alone, 1,200 in Nowshera, 210 in Peshawar, 199 in Charsadda, 739 in Lower Dir, 615 in Shangla, 550 in Kohistan and 209 in Malakand district. "Farmers need construction of water ponds and storage tanks, di-silting of partially damaged water courses and canals, construction of check dams, pasture tracks, water mills, bio-physical flood mitigation measures and reconstruction and rehabilitation of farm to market roads," he says. Adnan Khan reveals that projects are also underway for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of farm to market roads, some of which were swept away while others severely affected. "Most land in Charsadda and Peshawar is dependent on canals. Ours used to be the ideal irrigation system but the floods have wreaked havoc with the entire system," says Saadat Jahan, an official of the provincial management unit. Saadat says that immediate, short-term and long-terms measures will have to be taken for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the affected watercourses so that the crops could get water in coming seasons. A survey by the Agriculture Cluster reveals that 70,466 cattle-head, a main source of income of farmers, were killed during the floods while 577,078 were affected in many ways. At least 33,000 cattle-head were killed in Nowshera, 20,000 in Charsadda and over 5,000 in Peshawar. The figure does not include poultry, which also suffered significant losses during the catastrophic floods. A large number of cattle-head were also reported to have been smuggled from the affected areas at the time when the owners had to leave their homes and dairy farms for life. Smugglers and criminals transported a large number of animals from these areas to sell them in other parts of the province. "We have taken action against a number of people on the complaints of the owners of the cattle-head. Several stolen animals have already been recovered," says Amir Mohammad, a police official of Peshawar. Cultivating crises How the loss of infrastructure has turned food producers into affectees By Zakaria Nutkani The loss sustained by agriculture sector after the catastrophic floods is enormous. Floods not merely destroyed the crops, they annihilated the farmland as well. Indus valley civilization may have been the oldest one in inventing tools of agriculture farming, but the floods have smashed the agriculture system. Balochistan, being watered through hill torrents, has sustained huge loss of agriculture infrastructure but in Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa (except for Swat) and AJK, there has been least destruction of farmland. Spreading from Mianwali (South Punjab) to Badin (Sindh),
the areas beside the river Indus were the food basket of subcontinent, even
before the British introduced the vast canal system. It brought with it a
trend of cultivating new crops like cotton, sugarcane and rice. Moreover
these areas were rich in fruit plantation. Major crops grown in this region include cotton, rice, wheat, sugarcane, maize, pulse and vegetable. Groves of mango and citrus make it a land of fruit abundance. It is a water rich area as, apart from the Indus River, it benefits from the hill torrents originating from a mountain range Koh-e-Suleman. Hence it always remains cultivated, green and productive. Flood has destroyed not merely the crops, it has ruined the hard-earned farm input comprising labour, land preparation, seed, fertilizer and pesticide. It is a huge loss in both collective and individual terms. Though the area is mostly owned by feudals and big landlords, it is actually inhabited by small land-holders and farm tenants. Land cultivation in this area usually depends on the goodwill of the middle man (a trader in farm goods) who lends money and other agricultural inputs on heavy interest. Farmers who have lost their crops face extreme confusion -- they don’t know how will they first prepare their ruined land for cultivation and then grow a crop without the support of the middleman. This time, they will be unable to pay back the heavy loan borrowed by the middleman that may let flood repercussions perpetuate deeper and further. While the farmers deprived of farm machinery are facing graver threats of missing land cultivation for longer than usual time. The capacity of money lender (usually a trader) to keep lending indefinitely is restricted by the loss he shares with the farmers. In the absence of modern machinery, they may have resorted to cultivating crops with outdated means of ploughing for land preparation, but due to excessive loss of livestock, they are barred from that possibility as well. According to an unwarranted estimate, more than 30 percent of the total cotton production has been destroyed by the flood. The massive loss of sugarcane and rice crops is unprecedented. People have lost their grain storage and for the next season, most of them are ill-prepared to grow wheat. Food producers who have been turned into flood affectees speak loudly against the fast-penetrating food scarcity issue because their fresh experience with hunger, coupled with remarkable inflation, is horrifying. It is true that the flood has benefited many people as it has raised the water level in areas facing threats of water depletion. But in flooded areas, the situation is worst for now, as hill torrents accompanied by river water has dumped a large quantity of silt that renders the land uncultivable. On visiting the flooded farm areas, we found that agriculture infrastructure is completely destroyed. Besides, the breaches in the river and canals, many dykes, spillways and water distributaries are washed away. There are bleak perspectives of their rebuilding in the near future because it requires heavy investment of both cash and time. People cannot resolve it on their own while government lacks resources to undertake a magnified task of reconstruction. In Balochistan, the challenges seem insurmountable. People need heavy investment of resources to reconstruct the damaged dykes and water distributaries. Even the big land holders in Balochistan are ill placed to benefit as much as the people in South Punjab and Sindh do from farming. In each village, they need millions of rupees to repair and rehabilitate the devastated irrigation system. However, we may see a partial rehabilitation of the agriculture system in the near future. There would be varying degrees of land recultivation as the rich farmers who managed to save their farm machinery and the livestock may prepare their land in short period of time, say six months to one year. But most of the affectees will wait for government to help them get their destroyed land prepared for recultivation. There is no dearth of sagacious souls who may sit together and chalk out an innovative but impressive model of farm rehabilitation. The government can introduce new crops by distributing seed, fertilizer and pesticide among farmers. It can launch ‘cash for work’ project that may encourage people to rebuild the damaged agriculture system as quickly and efficiently as possible. Unless there is appropriate compensation for the loss sustained by farmers, agriculture sector may not withstand the flood disaster. Email: tozakaria@hotmail.com |
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