News
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Floods cause Rs 276bn losses to agriculture sector* Cotton and paddy crops losses at Rs 71.4 and Rs 56.3bn, respectively
* Rice production likely to drop by 27 percent
By Sajid Chaudhry
ISLAMABAD: Losses to the agriculture sector of the country from the floods have increased to Rs 276 billion against previous estimates of Rs 244.6 billion, official sources said on Tuesday.
According to an initial estimate prepared by the Ministry of Food And Agriculture in coordination with the provincial governments and Azad Jammu and Kashmir government, agricultural losses could be higher in south Punjab and some parts of Sindh. Federal and provincial authorities are divergent over losses in the livestock sector. Provincial authorities estimate 150,000 animals had been lost to the floods, whereas, federal officials are of the view that cattle loss could be high in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the worst-hit province, but farmers in other provinces had ample time to relocate their animals, thus, losses their ought to be less.
Authorities in Islamabad strongly believed that loss estimates from Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan were exaggerated. Small farmers were the worst-hit, with their losses at Rs 98 billion. Some had their crops completely destroyed. Kharif crops had suffered the worst damage. The ministry report stated that the cotton crop took the largest loss of Rs71.4 billion. Cotton had been sown on 3.1 million hectares, out of which 0.51 million hectares had been completely destroyed, which would lead to decline in production by almost 15 percent to 11.7 million bales against the target production of 14 million bales in 2010. The report warned that the country would face serious shortage of cotton in coming days as more than 20 percent of the crop had been hit by the floods. Bakkhar, Layyah and Mianwali districts have witnessed the worst damage. In Sindh, cotton crop was destroyed in Sukkur, Khairpur, Ghotki, Naushero Feroze and Benazirabad (Nawabshah) districts.
Rs 56.3 billion had been lost in damage to paddy crop. Countrywide paddy production is expected to decline by around 27 percent to 4.35 million tonnes against the original estimated production of 5.95 million tonnes. Among the major crops, sugarcane farmers had suffered a loss of Rs 19.3 billion and its production is expected to decline to 47.23 million tonnes against the estimated production of 54.83 million tonnes.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk