Flood-hit areas need 3m seed bags for sowing

Deluge has affected around 4m acres of cultivable land

ISLAMABAD:

Flood-hit areas across Pakistan need a huge quantity of 2.99 million seed bags for the upcoming Rabi crop-sowing season, said food security commissioner of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research.

He made the revelation in a meeting held at the National Flood Response and Coordination Centre (NFRCC) on Wednesday.

The meeting, chaired by Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, was informed that around four million acres of cultivable land had been affected by floods across the country.

The meeting reviewed the crops to be planted in Rabi, which was the winter sowing season, especially the cultivation of wheat, and the measures being taken for the supply of subsidised seeds.

It was apprised of the progress made so far on the NFRCC’s web portal and dashboard.

The planning minister directed officials to determine the seed requirement of their respective areas and the type of seeds needed in advance.

He called for stepping up relief activities in the flood-affected areas as winter was approaching and ordered the immediate finalisation of a mechanism for procuring subsidised seeds and their distribution at the district level. “Provincial governments should ensure the availability of seeds as soon as possible. There should be no delay in delivering seeds to farmers for the Rabi crops,” the minister emphasised, adding that any delay would hurt the country’s food security situation.

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lieutenant General Akhtar Nawaz, provincial agriculture secretaries and other officials concerned participated in the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2022.

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