Minister fears fall in agriculture produce due to shortage of water

The minister emphasised that Sindh should get due share from the CPEC project

HYDERABABD: The Sindh Agriculture Minister Ismail Rahu has said that the province's farmers have been encountering 45% shortage of water during the winter crops sowing season while the shortage was 40% during the summer sowing. During a ceremony of electronic draw for winners of 1,000 auto loaders in Hyderabad on Wednesday, he informed the media that a drop in agricultural production will be an inalienable outcome of the scarcity.

The minister held the federal government responsible for the growing shortage. "If the percentage of shortage is one in the national water system and another for Sindh, then it's an injustice," he said, tacitly suggesting that the bigger province Punjab does not share equal shortfall with Sindh.

"Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's government has proved to be a tsunami for the people associated with the agriculture sector," he contended, pointing to the increasing price of fertiliser and other agricultural inputs on the back of expensive public utilities and a depreciating Pakistani currency.



The minister emphasised that Sindh should get due share from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. He said that the provincial government had been trying to include some irrigation and agriculture projects in the CPEC. He expressed hope that the corridor will help enable the two sectors to advance by applying modern methods of irrigation and cropping as well as through the technology.



The minister informed that as many as 7,408 applications were received for 70% subsidised auto loaders among whom 1,000 recipients of the vehicles were selected through the draw. Responding to a question about implementation of Rs182 per 40 kilogrammes rate of sugarcane crop, he assured that the provincial government will ensure that the farmers get that price from the sugar mills.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2018.