Rice production in Sindh would likely be decreased in 2011, in comparison of production of 2010, because a large number of flood-hit growers could not cultivate rice crops on their lands due to dread of floods.
Reliable sources inside Sindh Agriculture department told Business Recorder on Tuesday that Agriculture department has conducted a survey in order to know the expected production of rice of province in which it was disclosed that production would be reduced.
Larkana, Shikarpur, Qambar-Shahdadkot, Jacobabad, Kashmore-Kandhkot, Thatta and Dadu districts were major producers of rice in Sindh but the said districts had faced irreparable losses due to floods of last year.
Rice crops standing on thousands of acres had been washed out and growers had faced huge financial losses in this situation. Though Sindh government had distributed seed and fertilisers among flood-hit growers yet a large number of growers from the said districts did not cultivate the rice crops on all lands due to fear of floods, sources told.
Slow progress about the on-going schemes of rehabilitation of Indus and non-Indus dykes have also created unrest among the growers, sources revealed.
In 2010, rice production in said districts was recorded as half in comparison of 2009 due to heavy losses because of floods. According to the official report obtained by Business Recorder, 1,230,304 tonne production of all verities of rice had been recorded in 2010 919,364 tonne production of Irri, 264,785 tonne production of Hybrid, 42,542 tonne production of Basmati and 3613 tonne production of other varieties had been recorded by the Sindh Agriculture department.
While rice production of 2009 was 2,422,347 tonne from which 1,728,176 tonne production of Irri, 583,104 tonne production of Hybrid, 103,195 tonne production of Basmati and 7,872 tonne production of other varieties had been registered by officials of Agriculture department, report further mentioned.
In 2009 Larkana's rice production was 383,600 tonne, Shikarpur's production was 331,853 tonne, Qambar-Shahdadkot's production was 296,195 tonne, Jacobabad's production was 291,644 tonne, Kashmore-Kandhkot's production was 254,402 tonne, Badin's production was 254,807 tonne, Thatta's production was 215,532 tonne and Dadu's rice production was 172,210 tonne, report added.
Khairpur Mir's, Ghotki, Sukkur, NaushehroFeroze, Benazirabad (Nawabshah), Sanghar, Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Matiari and Tando Mohammad Khan districts are low producers of rice. While there is no-cultivation of rice in Karachi, Tharparkar and Tandoallahyar districts, report stated. In this connection, an official of Agriculture department told Business Recorder that though prior authorities of department knew about the fear of rice-growers even then they did not took serious efforts to aware the growers in this regard.
He said that prior authorities should have sent mobile teams in flood-hit areas in order to support the rice growers but they didn't do this and resulting, Sindh will face shortage of rice in current season.