Muhammad Luqman

Farmers’ organisations in Pakistan have called for the government to declare an agriculture emergency to ensure the allocation of resources for rehabilitating the farming sector, which has suffered catastrophic damage — particularly in Punjab — due to this year’s unprecedented floods.

“All the development funds allocated to members of parliament, both MNAs and MPAs in Punjab, need to be diverted by the government for the rehabilitation of flood-hit areas in the province,” said Khalid Mahmood Khokhar, Chairman of Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI). Talking to Wealth Pakistan, he said that major crops, including paddy, cotton, sugarcane, vegetables, and fodder, had been severely damaged by floodwaters from the Ravi, Chenab, and Sutlej rivers in at least 27 districts.

“Fish farms are the biggest casualty, as the per-acre cost of a fish farm is Rs0.75 million — much higher than any crop,” Khokhar said, adding that not a single fish had survived the devastation, especially in Toba Tek Singh and Khanewal districts. He urged the government to provide free agricultural inputs — including seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides — for the next crop season to safeguard national food security.

“The farmers have no money to sow wheat crop this year,” the PKI chairman said. He further suggested that electricity bills in flood-affected areas be waived to provide relief to farmers. “Otherwise, the country will have to spend billions of dollars on food imports to feed its growing population,” Khokhar warned. “Instead of bearing this heavy import bill, providing an agriculture rehabilitation package would be far more affordable.”

He emphasised that the government alone could not shoulder the entire burden. “Every member of society will have to play a role in rehabilitating the farming community.” He said that non-governmental organisations also need to play their due role in supporting the welfare of the farming community.

Sharing similar concerns, farmers’ rights activist Chaudhry Haseeb Anwar said that although many farmers had managed to move their livestock to safer places, fodder shortages persisted across Punjab. He said that the prices of fodder have skyrocketed across the province, making it impossible for the resourceless farmers to buy the feed for their animals.

“If free food supply is not possible, it should at least be provided to farmers on credit,” Anwar suggested. He said crops over nearly three million acres of farmland in Punjab had been affected, with mango orchards in Multan division among the worst-hit. “If floodwaters don’t drain within two weeks, mango trees will dry out completely,” he warned while talking to Wealth Pakistan.

Anwar stressed the need for a compensation package to help farmers who had pinned all their hopes on this year’s crops. He also underlined the importance of preparing for future disasters. “Rains and floods cannot be avoided, but with proper harvesting of rain and floodwaters, the damage can be reduced,” he said. “If we cannot build mega dams, we should at least construct small and mini-dams in river catchments and along hill torrents.”

He concluded by cautioning that complacency would only invite greater disasters in the future.

Credit: INP-WealthPk