Web Desk (LTN NEWS): Farooq Bajwa, who is the director of Farmers Associates Pakistan (FAP), says that the record-breaking rains have cut the agricultural output. He says that bad weather has done a lot of damage to all crops, including maize, fodder, and cotton.
He also says that small farmers are in a very dangerous situation because their standing crops have been severely damaged and they can’t plant new crops without money or seed and other farm inputs.
After the monsoon rains and floods did a lot of damage to crops, many groups have asked the government to give farmers who were hurt money to help them plant the next crop.
Aamer Hayat Bhandara, who helped start a think tank called the Agriculture Republic, says that it rained when Kharif crops were in the flowering stage.
He says that the paddy crop was in the pollination stage when it was hit by heavy rains, so it is likely to have a lower yield. He also says that the weather has hurt people who grow cotton and date palms.
He says that small and medium-sized farmers usually rely on commission agents (arhtis), and since most of them don’t have crop insurance, they have to rely on arhtis for longer-term loans.
ahan Ara Watoo, vice president of the Pakistan Businesses Forum (PBF), says that flooding and an expected rise in the prices of raw materials have set off alarm bells in the agriculture sector.
She says that the farmers, especially women growers, are going to die because of the floods because the monsoon is still going on.
Most of the people have been moved to safer places, but most of the cattle have been washed away by floodwaters, Ms. Watoo says. It will take a while to figure out how much livestock was lost.
She says that Sindh and south Punjab, where rice and cotton are grown, are the worst hit. Mango orchards and red chilies farms are also underwater in the province.
