Food Security: Seed threat

Food security has remained on the periphery of issues that require attention for some years. With millions of hectares of cultivable land destroyed by the floods this monsoon, it now presents a real and present danger to the country.
Majority of those affected by the floods were employed in agriculture. Pakistan now has an extra 20 million mouths to feed that previously subsisted on the produce of the lands ploughed by them.
Sowing season for the Rabi crop is fast approaching. When nature lashed down its fury, not only did it destroy the land and property, it washed away much of the seed stock for the next wheat crop as well.
"Nearly 80 percent of the seed stock has been destroyed as a result of the floods," said Aly Khan, spokesperson for the FAO from Islamabad. The extent of the loss has also been acknowledged by Nazar Mohammad Gondal, Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture.
The remaining 20 percent is being consumed by the farmers families while food is unavailable to them.
In a recent meeting of the ECC, it was decided that flood-affected farmers would be provided with not just seeds, but fertilizer as well. The committee was informed that while the Sindh government has sufficient seed stock, Punjabs agriculture department is sitting on a surplus that is likely to be shared with that of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
But for all the talk, there has been little action to substantiate the announcements as yet. Bear in mind, the vast majority of seeds sown are the ones stored by farmers for the next crop. So even if the government claims seed surplus, it is unlikely to meet the demand for seed in the country.
Typically, wheat seeds are sown in mid-November to be harvested in January for the spring harvest. But it can be sown at the moment, as the cotton crop is still to be harvested in many areas due to inundation of the fields.
The UN, through the FAO, has started executing its plans to distribute the wheat seeds, fertilizers and shared use of machinery to nearly 150,000 families in the first run of its operations. Representatives in Islamabad say that this number would be ramped up to 400,000 once further funding has been received.
The federal government has set a target produce of wheat at 25 million tons in the coming year. But if the Rabi season is missed due to non-availability of seeds, Pakistan may face severe food shortages in the next few years.
Food security has remained on the periphery of issues that require attention for some years. With millions of hectares of cultivable land destroyed by the floods this monsoon, it now presents a real and present danger to the country.
Majority of those affected by the floods were employed in agriculture. Pakistan now has an extra 20 million mouths to feed that previously subsisted on the produce of the lands ploughed by them.
Sowing season for the Rabi crop is fast approaching. When nature lashed down its fury, not only did it destroy the land and property, it washed away much of the seed stock for the next wheat crop as well.
"Nearly 80 percent of the seed stock has been destroyed as a result of the floods," said Aly Khan, spokesperson for the FAO from Islamabad. The extent of the loss has also been acknowledged by Nazar Mohammad Gondal, Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture.
The remaining 20 percent is being consumed by the farmers families while food is unavailable to them.
In a recent meeting of the ECC, it was decided that flood-affected farmers would be provided with not just seeds, but fertilizer as well. The committee was informed that while the Sindh government has sufficient seed stock, Punjabs agriculture department is sitting on a surplus that is likely to be shared with that of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
But for all the talk, there has been little action to substantiate the announcements as yet. Bear in mind, the vast majority of seeds sown are the ones stored by farmers for the next crop. So even if the government claims seed surplus, it is unlikely to meet the demand for seed in the country.
Typically, wheat seeds are sown in mid-November to be harvested in January for the spring harvest. But it can be sown at the moment, as the cotton crop is still to be harvested in many areas due to inundation of the fields.
The UN, through the FAO, has started executing its plans to distribute the wheat seeds, fertilizers and shared use of machinery to nearly 150,000 families in the first run of its operations. Representatives in Islamabad say that this number would be ramped up to 400,000 once further funding has been received.
The federal government has set a target produce of wheat at 25 million tons in the coming year. But if the Rabi season is missed due to non-availability of seeds, Pakistan may face severe food shortages in the next few years.