As floods, by and large, clear Punjab to enter Sindh, the debate starts on the extent of damage it wreaked on the crops and livestock in the province. As usual, the officials are conservative in their estimates. Farmers, understandably, are liberal. The truth may be somewhere between both the guesstimates.

In Punjab, where its fury peaked, the final damages are now a matter of debate. The National Disaster Management Authority had projected damage to over 1.5m acres of crop. Out of them, 1m acres came from the rice zone and the central Punjab districts. Logically, the rest 500,000 acres should now belong to cotton belt, where breaches were also made and water allowed to spread far and beyond.

The government would announce some sort of compensation package, as it did in 2010, and farmers would go for wheat. In other areas, where hot and severe humid conditions would persist because of flooding in adjoining areas and Met forecasts, farmers might not have much incentive and money to further invest in the crop. Thus, the provincial target of 10m bales seems to be far from the mark at this point of time.

The Punjab agricultural bureaucracy, however, is equally worried about citrus and mango crops as well. It recently issued advisory for both of them, along with rice and cotton. The citrus crop is at the fruiting stage in the province, where such conditions can cause canker, root rot, dieback and scab. It advisory pleads for trees’ treatment on war footing. Floods hit the zone after torrential rains. The fruit earns substantial foreign exchange.

Similarly, Chenab waters have hit mango orchards in Multan, Khanewal, Muzaffargarh, Rahim Yar Khan and Bhawalpur districts and increased the risk of dieback, gomosis, anthranose, root rot and sudden death of trees. Prolonged stay of water in these orchards can be a threat to the crop.

Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/