Floods 2010 wreak havoc on farming communities

With the devastation nowhere near its end, it may be too soon to comment on the impact of the floods, but based on the preliminary details of the losses that have started pouring in, the outlook seems grim.
Agriculture is the mainstay of much of the countrys population. About 20 percent of the output of the economy comes from the sector and roughly 45 percent of the workforce is employed in the farming sector.
Not only have they been robbed of their livelihood, providing sustenance in return for the crops they grew seems like a superhuman task.
As full extent of damage and assessment will take weeks, if not months, rough estimates are the best available data at this point in time.
Nearly 1.1 million hectares of agricultural land has been affected due to the flash floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh. Estimates from Balochistan have not yet been made available.
"Nearly half of the cotton output - about 6 million bales - is ruined" said Sahib Haq of the World Food Program (WFP), the food aid branch of the United Nations.
Even by conservative estimates, those of Haji Ibrahim of the Pakistan Cotton Growers Association, nearly 4 million bales of cotton has been lost - which means that the textile industry would have to import cotton in the upcoming year.
Already at nearly a 20 percent ascent from the beginning of 2010, cotton prices are likely to soar in view of the significantly reduced output in Pakistan. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that additional cotton imports could cost roughly $1.5 billion, at current international prices.
Elsewhere, as flood waters gush to sugarcane growing areas, farmers are confident that the standing crop will be able to withstand the inundation for a few days. However, the output is expected to decline by 5~10 percent.
But "if the water stagnates on the fields for more than a week, weeds would start growing, and that would negatively affect yields" said chairman of the Pakistan Sugarcane Growers Association, Qurban Ali Shah.
Similarly, the recent rains and flooding has damaged nearly 5 percent of the annual rice output and threatened the export target of 4.2 million, according to the Rice Export Association of Pakistan.
Prices for vegetables and staple food items have risen sharply in recent days. According to media reports, rates in local vegetable markets have nearly tripled since the flooding began. Add to that the Ramazan effect - a 15 percent historical price rise during the holy month, and consumers are stretched thin in these trying times.
When all is washed away, the questions that looms large is whether the soil will be depleted. WFP analyst estimates that "usually soil should be fertile in the next crop year due to mineral deposits, but if the top soil is washed away, it would take as long as 5-10 years to rehabilitate the land."