Farmers complain of water shortage despite low flood at barrages

A low flood has been declared at two of the three barrages in Sindh while an identical situation is developing at the third one yet the growers in Sindh continue to cry about shortage of irrigation water. The Sindh Abadgar Board, a farmers' lobbying group whose office bearers held a meeting in Hyderabad on Sunday, bewailed that the water rotation system which is implemented during period of water scarcity in the Indus River is still in force in the province.

The meeting, according to a press statement, demanded that the rotation should be stopped immediately and all the canals and water distributaries should be continuously supplied water. The farmers said many crops in Sindh would have dried due to the engineered water shortage if it had not rained in the month of June.

SAB has complained that the irrigation water rotation is adversely affecting the agro economy as sowing in the ongoing Kharif season is just 30% of the same season in 2024.

The regime is under implementation since March and the growers claimed that they have already suffered losses in the cultivated crops like mangoes, sugarcane and vegetables. "The current severe shortage of water in the backdrop of the losses to the agriculture last year, due to falling commodity prices, and reduced production will take the agricultural economy further down."

The water discharge at the Guddu barrage on Sunday morning was recorded at 342,093 cusecs while it was 260,626 cusecs at Sukkur and 68,930 at Kotri barrages. The irrigation authorities have declared low flood at Guddu and Sukkur barrages.

Cotton crop woes

The meeting also pointed out the multi-faceted problems which have been affected the cotton production and the crop's growers as well. The farmers complained that poor quality seeds and pesticides as well as low crop prices have affected the crop's production, making its future cultivation bleaker.

They said the existing prices of Rs6,300 to Rs6,800 are discouraging famers from cultivating cotton crop whose cost of inputs and climate protection measures have no longer kept it profitable. They demanded that the government in collaboration with the agriculture universities should embark on a wide-ranging research initiative to come up with seeds which suit the local climate. They also called for stringent regulatory measures to curb the rampant marketing and sale of spurious pesticides.

Mahmood Nawaz Shah presided the meeting which was was attended by Syed Zain Shah, Dr Bashir Nizamani, Syed Nadeem Shah, Mohammed Aslam Mari and other office bearers and members of SAB.