Floods in Pakistan damage 3.7% of total crop area: FAO

UN's food agency at least 880,000 hectares of standing crops have been destroyed by floods.

MILAN: Floods in Pakistan have damaged at least 880,000 hectares of standing crops, including rice, maize, cotton, sugar cane, fruit orchards and vegetables, which represent about 3.7 per cent  of total national crop area, the United Nations' food agency said on Tuesday, citing preliminary official estimates.

"Damage to the current paddy crop is moderate and is estimated by FAO and Pakistan's space agency (SUPARCO), as of 20 September, at about 252,700 tonnes, or 2.5 per cent of the normal national production," the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in an update on the flood situation in Pakistan.

Nearly 92,000 livestock have perished and at least 5 million surviving animals were at risk, it said.

Over 2.75 million people were in immediate need of food assistance in the monsoon affected areas of Pakistan, the FAO said citing a joint assessment by the UN and government.

Earlier, the UN informed Islamabad about the less than lukewarm response to the $357 million flood appeal and the reservations that donor countries supposedly have about pledging money and materials.

Official figures indicate that some eight million people have been affected and 600,000 homes totally destroyed by the flooding.

UN agencies say the rains have destroyed 73 per cent of the two provinces’ crops and 67 per cent of food stocks.