“The devastation to crops is immense. I think it’s safe to say it will take some billions of dollars to recover, even though we don’t have estimates yet,” he said. “I am referring to livelihood for agriculture and farming to get back in shape,” he added.
In related news, the Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture, Nazar Muhammad Gondal, has announced that the ministry in consultation with other stakeholders is busy in finalising ways and means to help the farmers. The minister was chairing an emergency meeting arranged by the Pakistan Oilseed Development Board (PODB) in Islamabad, said a press release issued on Thursday.
“I seriously urge you to devise a plan and offer credit with discount to the farmers for at least six months and enable them to achieve a sustainable economic recovery. It is both a challenge and opportunity for us to achieve self-sufficiency in the production of edible oil. PODB, seed companies and the solvent industry must devise a plan and announce it soon,” he added.
The minister said that sunflower, canola and other oilseed crops must be made regular and for that purpose the first step is to guarantee attractive prices at par with import prices that the government pays for edible oil.
He added that indicative prices for the procurement of sunflower and canola will be announced within a week after consultation with the solvent industry of the country.
Output to decline
The output of refined sugar could fall by 500,000 tons because of the damage to the crops from floods, a farmer association said on Thursday.
“The floods have hit the sugarcane crop over an area of between 150,000 and 200,000 acres (60,000-80,000 hectares). That means there will be 500,000 tons less sugar this year,” Ibrahim Mughal, President of Agri Forum Pakistan, told Reuters. However, a Food Ministry official said the extent of damage to the crop still needs to be assessed.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 13th, 2010.
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