Sindh and southern Punjab have lost their cash crop worth of billions in the wake of recent floods, Pakistan Hi-Tech Hybrid Seed Association (PHHSA) Chairman Shahzad Ali Malik said at a meeting of the association. According to a press release issued by the PHHSA, available with WealthPK, Mr Malik said that according to farmers' estimates, the regions suffered losses of about 200,000 tonnes of rice, an estimate also supported by a Singapore-based trading company.

The PHHSA chairman, citing a United Nations World Food Programme report, said up to 200,000 to 300,000 tonnes of rice was lost in these rain- and hill torrent-infested floods and in the coming days Pakistan's exports will come down due to the damage to the rice crop. Other than the rice crop, he said, the floods destroyed cotton and sugarcane crops on vast hectares.

Both cotton and sugarcane are key sources of employment and forex for Pakistan. According to Mr Malik, Pakistan is the world’s fourth largest rice exporter suffering extensive damage to agriculture, the mainstay of its economy, as floods ravaged large swathes of its farmland.Mr Malik also read preliminary reports of the World Food Programme, which said that Pakistan can lose at least a tenth of rice output to floods. Since July, Pakistan has been under one of the most devastating disasters in the country’s history that left a third of land under water.

Mr Malik said that the agriculture sector is one of the most affected sectors, as up to 35% standing rice crop is damaged in Sindh alone, while south Punjab’s share of losses stands at 29%. Other rice growing areas are also partially hit by excessive heat waves. 

Mr Malik said Pakistan was said to have lost 10pc of its 2022 estimated rice production of around 8.7 million tonnes and it would be difficult to meet rice exports target. He said the association would send relief goods to Sindh and south Punjab.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk