Food Inflation to Surge as Agriculture Sector Takes Rs. 400 Billion Hit Due to Floods

Pakistan’s agriculture sector suffered a loss of around Rs. 400 billion as the current rains and floods have devastated major crops, including cotton, rice, dates, and vegetables, across the country.

Resultantly, the sector growth target of 3.9 percent set for the current fiscal year will be missed by a wide margin.

This was revealed by the official data exclusively available with ProPakistani.

The Ministry of National Food Security and Research, in collaboration with all provincial governments’ concerned departments and SUPARCO, compiled initial data, which revealed that Sindh’s agriculture sector suffered a huge loss of over Rs. 300 billion, followed by Balochistan with over Rs. 25 billion.

The province-wise details are given as under.

Sindh

In addition to human losses in Sindh, there is a loss of 2,845,046 acres of the cropped area.

Cotton: The total area cultivated of cotton was 1,467,579 acres, which is completely damaged by the flooding/monsoon rain. The loss in monetary terms on current nominal prices is about Rs. 205,461.06 million.

Date Palm: The total acreage damage is 101,379, which is 100 percent of the total area cultivated. The loss is equivalent to an amount of Rs. 7,096.53 million.

Sugarcane: The total damaged area is about 45,207 acres, which is approximately 7.18 percent of the total cultivated area. The loss in financial terms is about Rs. 3,390.525 million.

Kharif chilies: The total area damage is about 29,622 acres, which is about 47 percent of the total area cultivated for the crop. The amount of Rs. 7,772.812 million is lost due to crop damage.

Onion: The total acreage damage is about 42,268, which is about 27.95 percent of the total area cultivated. The financial loss is about Rs. 10,144.32 million.

Tomato: 12,101 acres of tomato crop have been damaged due to heavy rain/flooding. The area damage is about 20 percent of the total cultivated area. The financial loss is about Rs. 2,710.624 million.

Kharif vegetables: 30,718 acres of Kharif vegetables have been damaged. The area is about 55 percent of the total area cultivated for the crop. The financial loss is about Rs. 2,457.44 million.

Rice: The total damaged area is about 1,038,174 acres, which is about 70 percent of the area cultivated for rice. The financial losses due to crop damage are about Rs. 50,870.526 million.

Sesame: The area damaged is about 7,234 acres, which is about 22 percent of the total area cultivated for sesame. The loss in financial terms is about Rs. 336.381 million.

Others: 70,764 acres have been damaged. The amount of financial loss is about Rs. 7,076.4 million.

The total number of animals that died due to floods in Sindh is 1,976. The number of cows, buffalo, and camels that perished collectively is 180, whereas, the number of perished goats, sheep, and donkeys, collectively, is 1,541 (PDMA Sindh).

Balochistan

The recent heavy rains and flash floods have severely affected the Balochistan province on large scale. The flood has damaged the standing crops, orchards, and vegetables. According to recent updates, the districts worst hit by the rains and flash floods, resulting in crop and livestock losses, are Lasbella, Mastung, and Washuk.

Substantial crop loss as a result of the current flood was seen as 67,050 acres of crops, 21,960 acres of orchards, 14,882 acres of vegetables, and 4,403 acres of fodder were damaged, constituting a loss of Rs. 9,936.8 million, Rs. 4,469.36 million, Rs. 5,252 million, and Rs. 187.84 million, respectively.

Crop damage is higher in the districts of Labella, Sibi, and Awaran, where areas of 50,000 acres, 3,400 acres, and 3,212 acres, have been affected, which resulted in a loss of Rs. 4,900 million, Rs. 1,020 million, and Rs. 963.6 million, respectively.

On the other hand, the orchards’ affected area is higher in the districts of Lasbella, Barkhan, and Pishin, where 5,500 acres, 1,500 acres, and 1,060 acres, respectively, have been impacted by the flood.

Vegetables have also been affected in areas of Lasbella, Barkhan, and Pishin.  Fodder crop is also under the effects of floods, with Lasbella, Kech, and Mastung, being the greatly affected districts.

A key livelihood source in Balochistan, livestock are an important means of sustenance, with animal products utilized for daily food consumption. Livestock and Dairy Development Department Quetta has reported that the number of poultry dead is 81,871, whereas 24,854 animals have died due to flood. Furthermore, 708 animal sheds have been damaged. Livestock loss includes cattle, sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, mules, and poultry. Cattle died more in number in Lasbella, Washuk, and Musa Khail districts. A higher number of sheep died in the districts of Mastung, Washuk, and Lasbela.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Crops — Maize: The total area cultivated was 482,767 acres. The damage by rain/flood is 4,794 acres, which is about one percent of the total area cultivated in the KPK. The average yield in the KPK is about 0.91 tons/acre and the total production losses, as reported by the data, are about 4,543 tons. The financial losses due to damage to the maize crop are about Rs. 368.09 million.

Rice: The total cultivated area for rice in KPK is 40,029 acres, of which, 3,482 acres have been damaged due to rain/flooding which is about six percent of the total area cultivated. The average yield per acre in KPK is 0.01 tons, and the total production losses are about 39 tons, which is equivalent to Rs, 11.81 million.

Oil Seed: The total area damaged by the rain/flood is 237 acres out of a total of 432, which is about 55 percent of the total acres under cultivation. The average yield of oil seed in the KPK is 0.27 tons. The total production loss is about 96 tons, equivalent to an amount of Rs. 32.25 million.

Tobacco: Tobacco loss is about one percent of the total area cultivated, which is 957 acres out of 65,895 total acres cultivated. The loss is equivalent to an amount of Rs. 222.70 million.

Vegetable losses: Total area damaged by the flood is 938 acres out of 15,930 acres, which is about six percent of the total cultivated area. The loss in rupees is Rs. 145.28 million.

Orchard losses: About two percent of the total area cultivated has been damaged by the floods in the KPK, which is 98 acres out of the total of 4,742 acres, equalling an amount of Rs. 5.35 million in damages.

Pulses: The total area damaged is 863 acres, out of 3,301 total acres, which is about 26 percent of the total cultivated area, translating into losses to the tune of Rs. 50.86 million.

Cotton: The total area damaged by the rain is 137 acres out of the total of 408 acres, which is about 34 percent of the total area cultivated in the KPK, costing Rs 24.22 million in damages.

Dates: Statistics reveal that 91 percent of the total area cultivated for dates has been damaged, which is 2,596 acres out of 2,866 acres of total cultivated, incurring an Rs. 2,754.05 million loss in the category.

Potato: The total land damaged by flood is 85 out of a total of 1,359 acres. The loss is about one percent of the total area cultivated, equivalent to Rs. 31.01 million.

The total area cultivated of sugarcane is 140,664 out of which 60 acres are damaged, which is less than one percent of the designated area, amounting to losses of Rs. 8.90 million. Additionally, the total animal losses in KPK comprise large and small animal deaths, animal sheds damaged completely or partially damaged, and poultry sheds completely and partially damaged.

Punjab

Cotton: The total area damaged by the recent monsoon spells in Punjab is 0.83 percent, which is about 30,340 acres out of a total cultivated area of about 3,670,000 acres.

Livestock Damage: As many as 3,429 large animals (cattle, buffalo, and camels), 24,512 small animals such as sheep and goats, and 224 work animals, such as horses, donkeys, and mules, have died. Data further reveals that 685 animal sheds have been completely destroyed, while 591 animal sheds have been partially damaged.

86,120 rural poultry have also been found dead. One poultry shed was completely destroyed, and five were partially damaged.


  • In Pakistan there is no industry exception for crops farming. All textile and others have gone to either Bangladesh or Vietnam.


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