Harvest Season: Farmers given a bit of earth to grow sunflowers

Unlike other crops, cultivation of sunflower is cheaper and the plant is ready to yield in three months.

HYDERABAD:

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN celebrated ‘Sunflower Day’ with flood-affected farmers of Badin on Wednesday.

The event was planned at the beginning of the harvest season. A large number of farmers, officials from the Sindh Agriculture Department and district administration, representatives of the Sindh Abadgar Board, UN agencies and relief organisations were present.

A cultural show was also arranged for the farmers. FAO in collaboration with AusAID and UKAid provided 58,500 families with one acre of land with sunflowers, bags of urea, DAP and two kilogrammes of seed. “It costs us Rs7,500 per package,” said FAO’s senior emergency and rehabilitation coordinator Aryal Rajendra. “The farmers are expected to earn Rs22,500 from their yield.”

In comparison with other crops like rice and wheat, the cultivation of sunflower is cheaper and the plant is ready to yield in three months. The FAO’s support programme covers four districts which were flooded in 2011, including Tando Allahyar and Mirpurkhas.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2012.