Canola cultivation in flood-hit areas

SBP launches Rs 500 million financing scheme

Staff Report

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has launched a concessional financing and guarantee scheme, under which an amount of Rs 500 million has been allocated to encourage farmers to sow canola in the flood affected areas of the country for the current Rabi season.

According to a circular (SMEFD Circular No 15) issued on Tuesday – under the scheme, financing will be provided at affordable/concessional markup rates through banks.

Banks and Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) are allowed to obtain following refinance facility to finance the farmers of notified flood affected areas, it added.

Refinance under the scheme will be provided to banks at 5.0% per annum – while the banks will be permitted to charge a maximum spread of 3.0% p.a. from the borrowers, therefore credit to farmers will be available at 8% p.a., according to the circular. This scheme will remain valid up to October 31, 2011.

This new scheme is in line with the government of Pakistan policy for revival of agriculture activities and SBP relief measures for improving access to financing in flood affected areas. “In this regard it is expected that MINFA (Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture) and provincial agriculture departments would ensure timely availability of hybrid seeds, fertilizer, pesticides and on ground technical guidance to the farmers,” it added.

Under the scheme, agricultural credit will be provided to the farmers for canola cultivation in 17 affected districts as identified by MINFA. Out of the 17 districts, six districts are of Punjab (Layyah, Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Multan and D.G. Khan), four districts are from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Nowshera, Charsadah, D.I. Khan and Peshawar), four are from Sindh (Sukkur, Nausheroferoz, Benazirabad and Larkana) and three districts are from Balochistan (Nasirabad, Jaffarabad and Jhal Magsi).

According to the circular, agricultural credit shall mean only farm credit for meeting the production/working capital requirements, as defined in Prudential Regulations for agriculture financing while all categories of farmers (owner, owner-cum tenant and tenant) of the specified areas will be eligible for agricultural loans under the scheme.

It said the time period of the crop production loans and its repayment will be based on the cropping cycle up to a maximum period of 6 months while there will be no maximum limit for borrowing by the farmers under this scheme. However, the borrowing limit of farmer shall be fixed by the bank keeping in view production cost, cash flows, repayment capacity, risk profile of the borrower, etc., it added.

Principal amount of loans under the scheme shall have to be repaid on the agreed date between the bank and the borrower, however, not later than 60 days from the date of harvest of the crop, it said and added that banks shall not take more than 5 working days in evaluating an application for credit under the scheme from the date of receipt of complete information from the borrower. “Where the request is declined, the bank will explicitly apprise the applicant reasons for rejecting the application,” it added.

Under the Scheme, SBP would share bona fide losses to the extent of 30% out of which 50% claims of losses shall be reimbursed by the SBP when the loan is categorised as doubtful and the remaining 50% at the time of loss. Claims shall be submitted to the SBP on semiannual basis i.e. April 30th and October 31st duly verified/certified by the bank’s internal audit. “However, this reimbursement shall not obviate the lending institutions from the right of recovery of the defaulted amount,” the circular said. Dailytimes

Understanding conflicts in agriculture

DR ZAFAR ALTAF ARTICLE : A steady and simple supply of food is crucial to the farmers during this day and time of stress caused by floods. The fact that they have been displaced by floods only exacerbates the situation that was already in the coming. That is why the food supply is becoming hazardous as gangs try and take the food for themselves and some of them have even hoarded the same and taken the stuff far in excess of their requirements.

Selfishness abounds when the food supply is disturbed as it was during the floods. The various TV channels also do not help, and the NGOs and public trying to be helpful are in fact doing the opposite and disturbing the work that is the ultimate responsibility of the regional government.

With cries of mismanagement and mismanaged efforts-one at the implementation level and the other at the conceptual level abounding by all those that have never been in public service on wonders as to where all this will end. The colonial legacy of cribbing all the time instead of becoming an independent nation has led to a collective personality that is all the time finger pointing.

Without realising the idiot box has a lot of messiahs and I think that a better course would be to give them limited responsibility and if what they utter, they can deliver why not give them the responsibility? The Russian revolution of 1917 is the best known case of food shortages and what it could lead to.

Bread riots can be serious business for any country, not the government for it means that the structural aspects have not been looked at. That ultimately the farmer's business has been disturbed and that the centralised governance has not been able to cope with the information that filtered from the area for a variety of reasons.

The divisive nature of political living and governance that has merged is furthered not by the logic of events but by the illogic of temperaments. The finger pointing by the losers is so serious that the public without any evidence to the contrary is willing to believe anyone and yet in calling for a change the ignorance of a political change is not understood and people sitting and residing in far off places play their own agenda. If these people are so red hot why do they not come here and work for the country. When collective wisdom gives them the authority then they can also lead the country.

What then is the food supply and how can it be augmented by policy matters? The food supply gap will keep on increasing in Pakistan because of the population explosion that we are witnessing. The recent HH surveys done in the flood affected areas, although only indicative of the population explosion, are enough to make policy-makers worry as to the impact of this on the food supply.

We have been the victims of theories from the West adequately processed by the international agencies only further some opinion where the cultural context has not even been visited by these international agencies be it the WB, ADB, IMF and/or others like IFPRI.

The widely anticipated Rostow model of stages of development has been blown to pieces. For the society far from becoming progressively mature, democratic and more peaceful have been the reverse. More food security disruption by internal conflict is a way of making sure that vulnerability increases and those nations remain on the brink while the power base does what it wants to. How were the links between poverty, deprivation and rural vulnerability? High sounding names, but if we were to look at the rural vulnerability, then were the recent floods not adequate to provide massive evidence of what that deprivation and vulnerability is?

The conscience of the world has taken a break from sanity. The African continent is being decimated by killer disease and the options are not so easy to understand till one understands the doings of the developed countries. How China is being disturbed and how the various matters are being tackled. The West gets into a tangle and wants to harness China's leadership. That is a different story altogether.

Following decolonization the free countries got in to another tangle and that was to do with the legacy that was left behind, a legacy that was to simmer and continue between Pakistan and India on the one hand and between Pakistan and Afghanistan on the other. China was brought in but thanks to Shaheed ZAB's vision and friendship angle with the Chinese leadership that was thwarted. Some issues were allowed to be purposely created and the mess that was thus left behind still continues all this to the advantage of the developed nations.

The modernisation theory was a hocus pocus of many things-containing communism through nation-building. What was the nation building about? Give the throwaways of the Korean War to these countries whether they like it or not. Far from building nations, they disturbed the natural rhythm of the country by stating the most difficult, but catchy aspect of nation-building. The theory was that all good things such as development, democracy and social harmony would go together. The flow of prosperity did not take place.

What did take place was that the persistence of instability was due to the development process itself. Traditional values were uprooted and gaps enlarged. Pakistan faced this in the Fall of Dhaka or Dacca and the current development of Northern Areas is dependent on the ways that AKRSP has invested only on a particular section of society, living there thus changing permanently the traditional relationships. The transformation of traditional rural society created a massive unrest and the spoils went to the powerful or the connected.

The WB economists from their luxury apartments kept saying that there is nothing to worry about as the benefits would trickle down. Nothing trickled down then or now. They kept with their massive propaganda. Any amounts of cheap reasons were given for this to happen. Idiotic rationalisations came to the fore. The WB, ADB, IMF and any institution involved in development took the same cry. Revulsion developed and not a social revolution.

Big names were given Kuznets curve and the inverted U-curve and what have you. It was, in fact, the work of inverted and perverted minds that came to the fore. Kuznets and company like Victor Papanek from the US before him gave sound reasons on arguments that were not on rock logic, but on shifting sands. They came up with the view that at higher stages, the state capacity increases, demands are met, inequality is lowered, democracy enhanced and social stability returns.

Again the weakness was not in the policy, but in the developing world where the elites thwarted this activity. Pray who dwelt with these elites? Who gave them all the encouragement? Then came the punch line that stated that there was a curvilinear relationship between development and internal strife. You tell me what is the meaning of these two or three buzzwords that were being thrown around to prove that these guys were clever ones? What, for instance, was meant by Kuznets curve and how many hungry people would understand the curvilinear relationship. As if every conflict round the world would follow automatically.

How in the case of Pakistan do you explain the excluded despite nearly seventy years of development? The role of the international agencies and the role of the slaves of the WB/ADB that they keep on sending here need to be understood by the governments. Gloss on their lips and snakes up their sleeves. Then these wise cranks tell you the conflict and instability was part and parcel of mobility. More needs to be done to evaluate the remaining three theories and may be next time. Jokers.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2010

32 dams to be constructed for agriculture promotion, electricity generation: Raja Pervez Ashraf

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf informed the upper House here on Friday that to enhance electricity generation and for promotion of agriculture 32 Dams would be constructed in four provinces of the country and load shedding has been concluded for the industrial sector across the country.

Responding to a point of order in Senate here on Friday, he informed the House that the government has been initiating different measures to keep check on ‘electricity theft’ and for this purpose legislation was being made against the elements involved with electricity theft.

He also said that during last two months 122 cases were filed against industrialists involved in electricity theft adding that in accordance of new laws—electricity thieves would not be allowed to install new meters with any name as in the past electricity meters were being restored after deposition of bills and fined amount.

Federal minister also clarified that ministry of water and power didn’t take any dictation from IMF to conclude subsidy on electricity rates and restructuring decision of WAPDA was according to the policy of the incumbent Government and tasks have been formulated for the power companies working in the country to improve their performance, Raja Pervez Ashraf maintained.

The minister also pointed that mechanism to install electricity meters is being practiced according to rules and regulations as electricity meters are provided to the applicants within 90 days adding that the government has ended load shedding for the industrial sector and mechanism was also being worked upon to ensure 12 hours electricity for the agriculture sector.

He said that agriculture has been the backbone of the national economy and the government making strategies to provide subsidy on electricity rates for the agriculture sector.

Federal Minister also said that construction on Mirani Dam has been in the final stages and it would be very beneficial for the people of Balochistan and the government has already paid out Rs156 million to the Balochistan government as cost of the dam and compensation to the affectees of the dam would be the responsibility of the provincial government.

He also pointed that owing to prevailing floods across the country no doubt ministry of water and power has to face severe economic challenges but the ministry has arranged funds for construction of Diamir Basha Dam and foreign donors companies were also assisting the government over this project.

The government has evolved a project to construct 32 dams across the country to cater electricity and agriculture needs, however it could be too difficult to initiate construction on all the projects at a time, therefore the government has started work to construct one dam in each province simultaneously, minister said.

Federal minister for water and power also acknowledged the fact that the people across the country were facing electricity outages as amid electricity short fall, numbers of power houses has also been damaged in prevailing flash floods and work has also been in the process to provide transmission line to Balochistan.

He also informed the house that Indian constructed dams on Indus River, Jhelum and Chenab adding floods devastations in Pakistan. NEPRA used to fix electricity rates in the country and then electricity companies install their power generation plants and in the prevailing circumstances when the world has been facing economic crunch—investment in power sector of the country has also been very short.

The minister informed the house during last nine years no plant was installed in the country to generate even a single additional unit of electricity, however the incumbent government by accepting the challenge has initiated work to establish new dams.

He also said that in 2008-9 approximately 9,480 cases of electricity theft were filed under which 268 persons were apprehended, while during the year 2009-10 23695 cases of electricity theft were filed and 193 electricity thieves were arrested.

The minister also said that construction cost of Mirani Dam has been Rs 5,811 million, while reconstruction estimation of Subakzai dam has been Rs 1,960 million adding that Private Power Infrastructure Board (PPIB) has been working under minister for water and power in the private sector for electricity generation.

To generate 5,681MW through oil, gas and coal 26 thermal power plants are being established out of which 1460MW electricity projects has started electricity generation and further 11 projects of 1931MW would start work soon till the end of this year and projects to generate 2289MW would be completed till 2015. Online

Major crop losses reach Rs281bn: SBP

The State Bank said on Thursday the direct losses of major crops had reached Rs281 billion as the floods hit hard the agriculture sector that could lead to adverse economic outcomes.
State Bank of Pakistan Governor Shahid H Kardar, while speaking at a roundtable discussion on ‘Damage Assessment of Floods and Implications for the Financial Sector’ arranged by the bank on Thursday, said the country will not be able to face this situation alone.

He said the floods had caused widespread devastation in 78 districts across the country with huge losses of wealth in the form of crops, livestock, roads, infrastructure, and public and private buildings.

Moreover, the floods have rendered about 20 million homeless and posed serious health risks for the victims.

“The agriculture sector, which accounts for 21 per cent of GDP and 45 per cent of employment, has been particularly hard hit and the direct losses to major crops have been estimated at Rs281 billion by the federal ministry of food and agriculture and Suparco,” said Mr Kardar.

In addition to agriculture, the manufacturing sector, which depends on agricultural inputs, has also been adversely affected, he added.

“These developments will lead to adverse economic outcomes, with anaemic growth and higher inflation. Pakistan will not be able to address these issues alone and will need external support,” he said.

He said that the State Bank had constituted committees in the areas of SMEs, microfinance and agriculture and general relief work to develop a strategy for the settlement of existing loans and provision of fresh credit in the affected areas.“These committees have recommended write-offs of existing loans, where prospects of recovery are slim, restructuring or rescheduling of lending; refinance facilities for fresh lending and subsidy on associated financial charges,” said the governor.

The State Bank in consultation with the federal government and donors has decided for deferral of loan repayment for 2 years – restructuring or rescheduling of overdue loans.

It is also decided to reduce mark-up for 2 years provided the interest differential between the mark-up charged and KIBOR (Karachi Inter-Bank Offered Rate-for banks), or average market rate (for MFBs - mirco finance banks) is borne by the government of Pakistan (GOP) for the period.

The State Bank decided for exemption from additional provisioning requirements for one year.

The SBP will create provision for fresh credit at subsidised rate through the SBP refinance window for 2 years at 8 per cent per annum with a bank spread of 3 per cent.

It also decided for credit guarantee schemes on a 30 per cent first loss sharing basis with funding support of GOP and multilateral agencies. 
DAWN

Rice Prices `Worrisome' as Global Supplies Tightening, Biggest Buyer Says

Rice prices are becoming “worrisome” as global supplies tighten because of crop losses in some of the largest exporters, according to an official in the Philippines, the world’s biggest buyer. 

The global supply-and-demand balance is “not at the 2008 level yet, but it’s pretty worrisome because of the prices,” Lito Banayo, head of the National Food Authority, which handles state rice purchases in the Philippines, said in an interview in Manila yesterday.

The United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization’s global Food Price Index surged in August to the highest level since September 2008 as wheat and rice prices advanced after Russia, the world’s third-largest wheat grower last year, banned exports and flooding in Pakistan damaged rice crops, curbing supplies of Asia’s two main staple grains.

The FAO pared its estimate for global rice production on Sept. 1 for the second time since April as lower water levels in the Mekong River curbed yields in Thailand and Vietnam, the world’s two biggest exporters, and flooding slashed the harvest in Pakistan, the third-largest shipper.

The agency’s Rice Price Index, which tracks 16 export prices around the world, climbed to a five-month high of 215 points in August.

“We feel the market could be subject to a supply crunch,” Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services Pty. in Sydney, said in an e-mail to Bloomberg News today. “Already we have seen a strong movement in rough rice” prices, he said.

Thai Prices

Rice futures advanced to a record $25.07 per 100 pounds in Chicago in April 2008 as exporting countries including India and Vietnam restricted shipments, adding to concerns about a global food shortage that sparked riots from Haiti to Egypt. The Thai export price, the benchmark for Asia, surged to an all-time high of $1,038 a metric ton a month later.

Futures in Chicago have gained 23 percent since slumping to the lowest in almost four years in June. The December-delivery contract traded at $11.685 at 11:18 a.m. in Singapore.

The Thai export price may rise to $525 a ton in October, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 10 exporters and traders last month, as supply tightens ahead of the country’s harvest, which has been delayed because of drought. The price, updated weekly by the Thai Rice Exporters Association, climbed to a five-month high of $495 a ton yesterday.

The FAO cut its rice production forecast for this year to 467 million tons on Sept. 1, compared with 474 million tons in April, and 472 million tons in a June report.

Pakistan Losses

Crop losses in Pakistan “could negatively affect the rice trade,” the FAO said. The agency reduced its forecast for next year’s global exports to 29 million tons, from an estimated 30 million tons this year.

Exports from Pakistan may slump as much as 35 percent to 3 million tons in the year that began July 1, from 4.6 million tons a year earlier, after the deadliest flood in the nation’s history destroyed crops, Malik Jahangir, chairman of the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan, said Sept. 1.

Shipments from India of basmati rice, which is at least twice as expensive as the regular variety, may surge by about 22 percent after the floods in Pakistan, Anil Mittal, chairman of KRBL Ltd., the country’s biggest exporter, said yesterday.

“Timing of when to buy is important” for the Philippines, Banayo said. The country’s government is still “validating” production figures to gauge the volume of rice it needs to purchase for 2011, he said.

Supply in the Philippines may tighten after drought caused by El Nino delayed planting. The nation’s main harvest, which typically begins mid-September, may be delayed by at least a month, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said in July.

Drought may cut rough rice production in the Philippines by 15.2 percent to 9.24 million tons in the first nine months of the year, compared with the same period last year, according to a July report by the nation’s Bureau of Agricultural Statistics.

To contact the reporters on this story: Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore at ljavier@bloomberg.net Cecilia Yap in Manila at cyap19@bloomberg.net

Help Needed for developing a software for Coordination

Dear Bro Saif Manzoor sahib and Tahir bhai,

AA

Bro Saif, do you have any idea about coordination software, where we could all pool all available information and desirous could benefit from there.

For example, back in EQ 2005 days, one of the companies developed www.zalzala.com and many contributed to it, it had a Pakistani EQ effected map, that could be zoomed in, untill the small villages and localities were available. By clicking on it you will find a template a two column table, of items that were available and the other contained that were needed. This included the road access, and reasons for not availability of access.

My students from UAAR, used to populate this table by collecting infor from different sources on mobiles, timings of updates and the person who updated were also recorded to keep track of information and status of improvement.

We and many found it very useful, after few days you could log in and see it well populated and you could locate that loads of trucks are waiting for distribution just few kilometers away on the turn of the road, and such and such road is blocked. We did include the informers info in there, so that for later updates s/he could be contacted or information could be confirmed.

I am copying this to some of my friends who were in meeting on this sunday, where we were reminded of the need of such an information resource.

Many of us, like Dr Ijaz Bashir, who is working Flood Relief work and is not aware of demographics, population data and nor the state of FR goods already sent to a place. He has a good infra structure and has his people at all main stations where his Relief work is based. Secondly from the information which he has we cannot benefit. Statistics collated by Population department are not available, and a person (like Saeed Baig sahib) thinking of taking care of a village of say 40-50 households is not available.

I think there could be many examples of information that is crucial and if available it can help us avoiding the wastage of resources etc. For example I was amazed to know that University of Agriculture Faisalabad, has spent 2-3 crore Rs in rehabilitation work in these few weeks and has put an army of 2400 students who belonged to this area and are studying at UAF. This local force will make a significant contribution to rehab and livelihood work.

Realizing the importance of topic I am including few more names with expectation that they will help us in finalizing the needs/requirements of such a software.

Hence all please contribute, they way you like it should be.

Regards

Afzal

afzal537@gmail.com

Donors' response to Pakistan agricultural needs very low: FAO

UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said that so far donor response to Pakistan's agricultural needs after the devastating flood has been very low. Only 35 percent (2 million dollars) of initial funding requirement have been met under the Pakistan Initial Floods Emergency Response Plan (PIFERP).

FAO is reaching approximately 1,50,000 families with agricultural inputs and 50,000 households with emergency livestock assistance in flood affected districts across the country. It said with additional funding of 30 million dollars FAO could assist a further 2,50,000 families with wheat seeds and help keep at least 1,00,000 families' livestock alive over the coming winter.

In its Executive Brief on Pakistan Flooding, as on September 1, 2010 FAO said approximately four out of five people in the flood affected areas depend on agriculture for their livelihood. One of the greatest challenges on the ground is helping farmers to recover their land in time for wheat planting beginning in September/October and to prevent further livestock losses.

The UN organisation said across the country millions of people their entire means to sustain themselves in the immediate and longer-term, owing to the destruction/damage of standing crops and means of agricultural production (eg seed stocks, irrigation, livestock, farmland)

The latest cumulative estimates are as follows:

(a) The agriculture cluster rapid damage assessments, completed in half of all flood-affected districts found that 1.3 million hectares of standing crops have been damaged.

(b) Countrywide damage to millions of hectares of cultivatable land, including standing crops (eg rice, maize, cotton, sugarcane, orchards and vegetables) likely.

(c) Loss of 0.5 to 06 million tons of wheat stock needed for the wheat-planting season.

(d) Death of 1.2 million large and small animals and 6 million poultry.

FAO said while the full extent of the damage still cannot be quantified and assessments are ongoing, the direct and future losses are likely to affect millions of people at household level, as well as impact national productive capacity for staple crops, such as wheat and rice. Response to needs in the agriculture sector cannot be underestimated nor delayed.

Wheat planting season: FAO said if wheat seeds, fertilisers and farming tools are not provided rapidly, many farmers will miss this year's wheat planting season, beginning in September/October and may not be able to harvest wheat again until spring 2012.

It further stated that extensive water logging, silt deposits and damage to irrigation structures mean that work must start now to clear and prepare the soil for planting and to repair water systems for upcoming planting seasons. This planting season is vital as wheat is Pakistan's main staple crop, accounts for two thirds of national cereal production (planted on 9.5 million hectors in 2009 yielding 24.5 million tons) and provides 60 percent of the carbohydrate and protein requirement for an average Pakistani.

Saving remaining livestock, FAO said it is also concerned with preventing the further loss of livestock, which represent an immediate source of food, income, draught power and very often the savings of a lifetime. Without emergency, dewormers and veterinary supplies animals will die in large numbers, it warned.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2010

Angelina Jolie, Ewan McGregor appeal for Pakistan flood victims

United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie and United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) Ambassador Ewan McGregor have filmed videos in which they call on the international community to donate to Pakistan.

On August 31, Jolie filmed a video message in which she states that one-fifth of Pakistan is under water and thousands have died in the initial flooding. “The threat of disease now looms for 20 million affected people” who are in need of help, she said. “This is not just a humanitarian crisis; it is an economic and social catastrophe. The more support we can give, the greater number of tents, food, clean water and medicine will get to the people in need.”

Jolie has spoken about the need to donate to Pakistan’s flood victims before. At the premiere of her latest film Salt in the United Kingdom, she urged people to help, “This is really one (in which) we really have to urgently get in there and try and do what we can. So we will financially help and hope to visit and go when the attention dies down and to maintain the attention because it is millions and millions of people who will be uprooted for a very long time.”

At the premiere in Berlin she said, “No, of course not enough is being done in Pakistan.” And when asked what she was doing to help she stated, “I’m planning a trip, we’re contacting people on the ground, we’re speaking to people in the US government everyday … we’re going to continue to work together and see what we can do. The scale is just so (big), it’s such a catastrophe that it’s hard to know what to do but everybody should do something.”

McGregor filmed a message stating that the floods have “affected more people than the Haiti earthquake and the 2004 tsunami combined and as in all disasters it is the children who have been the hardest hit.”

As an ambassador for Unicef he urged people to help “the estimated 3.5 million children in Pakistan (who) are in need of urgent help. The situation is desperate and I am asking you to do what you can to help these children. We need your help today to respond to the crisis.”

“The situation is becoming more and more critical, threat of diseases like malaria and cholera is really real and thousands of children already have life-threatening diarrhoea. Unicef is appealing for funds to reach those children who have lost everything. We cannot stand by and let those children who have survived the devastating floods needlessly die of disease. These children have the same right to survived and thrive as those anywhere else in the world,” stated McGregor.

He urged people watching the video, which will be shown online and as a television appeal, to donate by calling Unicef or donating via their website.

Published in The Express Tribune

Commodity News Snapshot-Pakistan

Floods cause Rs 17 billion losses to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa livestock, agriculture sectors

PESHAWAR (September 01, 2010): Heavy torrential rains and devastating floods caused a loss of Rs 5.344 billion to livestock and Rs 12.139 billion to agricultural sectors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, respectively. Briefing media here at Chief Minister's House on Tuesday, provincial minister for Information, Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that statistics gathered from various districts showed a total of 94,924 cows and bulls were affected and 29,081 died in the floods which worth Rs 1.769.billion.

Who to blame for sugar price hike?

ISLAMABAD (September 01, 2010): Sugar prices are hovering at around Rs 90 per kg and it is difficult to determine which of the key players is to blame: the government, including TCP, the sugar mill owners, the stockists, the wholesalers, or the retailers. Background interviews with officials and private sector stakeholders, however, do establish the fact that sugar price is at an artificially high level and someone is making windfall profits during Ramazan.

TCP opens two LCs for 0.32 million tons of sugar import

KARACHI (September 01, 2010): The Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) has established two Letters of Credit (LCs) worth $243 million for import of 320,000 tons of white refined sugar. Sources told Business Recorder on Tuesday that with the opening of two LCs it is expected that first shipment of sugar would reach Pakistan in mid-September.

Sindh government lifts ban on inter-district wheat movement

KARACHI (September 01, 2010): The Sindh government has withdrawn Section 144 on the movement of wheat in the province to deal with the expected shortage of the commodity in the flood hit districts, Business Recorder has learnt. It may be mentioned here that the Sindh government, couple of month's back, had imposed Section 144 on the wheat movement at the joint borders of Sindh-Punjab-Balochistan and within the province to avoid smuggling of the commodity

Rice farmers, cotton millers: Zardari for special credit package

KARACHI (September 01, 2010): President Asif Ali Zardari has held a meeting with the representatives of rice growers and cotton ginning millers at Chief Minister's House here on Tuesday to discuss the extent of damages to rice and cotton crops due to recent floods and examine the ways and means to retrieve the losses and help recover the lost ground.

PSMA (Punjab) calls for import of raw sugar

LAHORE (August 31, 2010): Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA - Punjab) Chairman Javed Kayani has laid emphasis on the import of raw sugar to meet the demand in coming season. Kayani in a letter written to the Secretary Food Punjab said shortage of food is likely to aggravate as about twelve districts in Punjab have been inundated by the flash floods, damaging crops badly.

Rice farmers, cotton millers: Zardari for special credit package

President Asif Ali Zardari has held a meeting with the representatives of rice growers and cotton ginning millers at Chief Minister's House here on Tuesday to discuss the extent of damages to rice and cotton crops due to recent floods and examine the ways and means to retrieve the losses and help recover the lost ground.

The meeting was attended by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Federal Agriculture Minister Nazar Mohammad Gondal, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, Sindh Minister for Agriculture Ali Nawaz Shah, Irrigation Minister Saifullah Dharejo, Chief Secretary Sindh Fazlur Rehman, Chairman of Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd, representatives of State Bank of Pakistan and various concerned departments, president of Rice Millers Association Arif Hussain Mahesar and chairman of Cotton Ginners Association Rana Abdus Sattar.

The meeting was apprised that 50 percent rice crop has been damaged in Sindh. The President emphasised the need for using local rice as seed for the next crop instead of importing seed from abroad, saying that the imported seeds will take a longer time for acclimatisation.

The meeting was informed that 40,000 tons of rice seed would be needed for the next crop. President Zardari advised the government to devise such a policy that the country should not have to import rice seeds. He also asked SBP to devise a special package in consultation with the banks to give incentives to growers and millers to help them overcome the losses incurred on account of heavy floods. He advised the Sindh Home Minister to hold an inquiry into the complaints of 'warabandi' (closure of canal) in context of Nara Canal during the floods.

President Zardari also called for holding an inquiry against tax officials in Hyderabad with reference to complaints of issuing notices to the growers. Responding to a request by the rice growers and exporters, he directed the SBP to examine the possibility of setting up foreign exchange branches of all the banks in every district to facilitate growers and exporters.

Copyright Associated Press of Pakistan, 2010

Farm inputs: need for village sale centres

FARMERS in the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa have demanded of the government to provide them with easy and timely access to agriculture inputs so that they may sow the next crop.

“With thousands of tons of wheat and maize seeds having been washed away by recent floods, there is an urgent need to procure and store substantial amount of the commodities in advance. We would like the government to provide these two basic inputs to growers free of costs as they are hardly hit,” said Murad Ali Khan, president of the Kissan Board Pakistan.

For this to happen, village-based agriculture inputs/services provision centres (AIPCs) should be set up.

“Agricultural inputs are the main headache of farmers. In times of need, they either disappear from the market or are too costly and unaffordable for the poor growers. With the wheat sowing season not far away, there could no better time than now to advocate the village-based setup,” said Khan.

According to Niamat Shah, general secretary of the Anjuman-e-Kashtkaran Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, farmers’ income can be substantially increased if quality seeds, fertilisers, machinery, pesticides and other services are provided to them in time and on cheaper rates.

“These AIPCs would be like agriculture utility stores which also would serve as store houses/marketing centres for all agricultural inputs. They will provide inputs, soft loans, guidance and training and other services to farmers at comparatively cheaper rates and in time. These are vital for capacity-building of farmers and are supposed to create linkages between farmers and public/private line departments and associations. The centres will also develop and fund some demonstration farms. The high yield of these farms will serve as incentives to other farmers,” he argued.

These centres should be established on the basis of union council, Patwar Halqa or villages and should comprise all stakeholders in agriculture, i.e. farmers, livestock owners, agriculture department field assistants, patwaris, veterinary doctors, seeds/fertiliser industry and bank representatives.

To minimise the chances of corruption, there should be oversight bodies over these local chapters at district and provincial levels with membership on the same pattern, he added.

“The government should open a centre at each of the 986 union councils in the province. Then these bodies should be organised on Patwar halqa and ultimately on village basis to cover the entire or most of the farmers the province. These centres must function under the supervision of the provincial agriculture department,” said Shah.

Every AIPC should have certified seed, fertiliser, pesticides and farm machinery, repair workshop, veterinary hospital, the latest information about various aspects of farming, branch of Zari Traqqiati Bank to disburse interest-free loans, a multimedia workshop, storage facility and a branch of insurance company for crop insurance.

Finances for the centres are likely to be the most pressing issue. “But the issue could be tackled. Farmers should contribute a membership fee of at least Rs200 per head and another Rs800 as share money in the revolving funds of the bodies. This should be augmented by a matching grant by the government. This revolving fund will increase with the passage of time when invested in agriculture inputs and services that earns money. Farmers could also be provided training, guidance, credit facility to start businesses locally to earn more money for their families.

Revenue collected from agriculture can/should also be spent on its development. Cooperative bank, that has been revived, should also fund these entities once these start functioning. Banks could also be asked to be a share-holder in the business,” Shah added.

According to Khan, the seeds research farms in the province have developed high yielding wheat, maize and fruit and vegetable seeds but their timely and easy availability has always been a problem. “When quality seeds, fertilisers and pesticides are not available to farmers, they have to use substandard, often dangerous, inputs. This explains the rampant low per acre crop yield in the province.”

“So far the government has failed to streamline the seeds’ distribution. It has not been able to check and crackdown on substandard seeds in the market,” Shah said.

In villages, he said, the government needs not invest that huge amounts on buildings for the purpose. Rather Hujras or empty houses, available in plenty there, can be utilised.

“The AIPCs will surely modernise and commercialise the subsistence and outdated farming when expert advice, machinery and marketing support is provided to growers,” said Israr Bacha, a farmer. [dawn]

Floods, Drought Will Prevent Gains in China's Grain Production This Year

Natural disasters may block any increase in China’s grain production this year as the worst floods in a decade ruin crops.

Flooding cut harvests of early rice in the major growing areas of southern China, Xinhua News Agency cited Vice Agriculture Minister Chen Xiaohua as saying yesterday during a government inquiry on grain safety. Crops in low-lying areas of the country’s fertile northeast were also damaged, he said.

China’s corn imports in July surged after traders bought the most overseas grain in more than 10 years to replenish shrinking domestic supplies. Early rice production this year fell 6.1 percent to 31.3 million tons, the National Bureau of Statistics said on its website yesterday. The world’s most- populous country grows almost a third of the globe’s rice and cotton, and produces about half its pork.

“This year’s weather will not reduce the output,” Chen Shuwei, a manager at Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultant Co. said in a telephone interview. “China will not have a shortage in the next one or two years.”

Low temperatures due to floods delayed the ripening of winter wheat by five to seven days, and spring sowing in the northeast by seven to 10 days, the minister said. Lower rice output won’t stop overall summer grain production from equaling the levels of previous years, making it China’s seventh year of bumper harvests, Xinhua quoted the government’s Chen as saying.

Yalu Floods

Heavy rain in the northeastern province of Liaoning since July flooded the Yalu River on the border with North Korea, the region’s second-worst overflow since 1949. Liaoning and neighboring Jilin should brace for further heavy rainfall this weekend, the National Meteorological Center said today.

Officials at the inquiry said they are confident in the coming autumn harvest, which produces more than 70 percent of China’s annual grain output, Xinhua said. The report cited Chen as saying the seeding area has been increased, and quoted Zhang Xiaoqiang, a vice minister of economic planning, as saying enough grain is in storage to prevent shortages.

A rise in global grain prices won’t affect prices in China due to its ample reserves, Zhang said. Imported wheat, corn and rice equal less than 1 percent of China’s output, he said. Corn rose to a 14-month high yesterday on signs of increased demand for U.S. supplies, after drought reduced crops in Russia and parts of Europe, and flooding cut acreage in Canada.

Corn Harvest

Corn output in China, the world’s second-biggest producer and consumer of the grain, may rise 4.8 percent this year to 165 million metric tons on increased planting and good weather conditions, according to a report this week by Cngrain.com, a portal owned by China Grain Reserves Corp., manager of state grain stockpiles.

Total planted area may have expanded 2.2 percent to 471 million mu (31.4 million hectares), it said. Delayed planting and heavy rains in some regions didn’t have a significant impact on crops, the report said.

China probably won’t order further corn imports this year as global prices climb and on speculation the domestic harvest will be better than expected, according to Wanda Futures Co., the second-biggest brokerage by volume on the Dalian Commodity Exchange.

By Bloomberg News

Pakistan on verge of agricultural catastrophe: UN

While the destruction caused by the flood in terms of loss of human life and property has been devastating, the country is now also faced with the threat of an acute shortage of food that could well plague the country for the next two years.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, massive damage to agricultural infrastructure has been caused by the floods, and seed for the next year’s crop has also been washed away.

Almost eighty per cent of the families living in the flood-affected areas depend on agriculture as a means of livelihood; and after the floods washed away even emergency food stocks, this segment faces an economic and food crisis of massive proportions.

Furthermore, the FAO believes that if September’s wheat planting window is missed due to water-logging, the impact could last for up to two years. Areas growing rice and maize will be able to harvest their first crop not before autumn of next year.

Additionally, large plantations of fruits and vegetables have also reportedly been destroyed by the flood. Without food assistance for that duration, a nation-wide food shortage threatens the country, with rising food inflation and catastrophic repercussions on food and dairy security. Not to mention the fact that the farming community could lose up to two years of income.

In addition, approximately 200,000 animals have reportedly perished during the flood, while the remaining livestock is in dire need of veterinary support. The flood-hit areas are now also facing a shortage of feed and fodder critical for the surviving livestock. There is a danger that tens of thousands of animals will die as a result of starvation and disease if emergency measures are not taken.

Over $5.7 million have been requested through the Pakistan Initial Floods Emergency Response Plan to kick-start the agricultural response and to provide livestock with feed, veterinary services, de-worming tablets and mineral blocks.

The FAO has already mobilised $1.6 million to address immediate needs in anticipation of the upcoming sowing season, which will see distribution of seeds and fertilisers among 25,000 households.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17th, 2010.

71% rice crop destroyed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

For a province battered by one of the most devastating natural calamities in recent memory, the ordeal is not over yet.


The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations has released a damage assessment report of the agriculture sector in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.


The report reveals that up to 71 per cent of the rice crop has been lost to the floods. Out of the total of 76,564 acres of land used for rice cultivation, 54,665 acres were simply washed away. Furthermore, the flood wreaked havoc on maize plantations as well, with 45 per cent of the total crop lost in the province and 226,902 acres of farmland damaged.


In all 3.2 million hectares of agricultural land has been damaged or destroyed. In a province where 80 per cent of the population depends on agriculture as their only means of livelihood, economic hardships are getting worse by the day. Fifty-nine per cent of the vegetable produce has been lost and 19,144 acres of farmland used for vegetable cultivation affected.


Also 26 per cent of the sugarcane crop and 57,098 acres of plantation land, 14 per cent of fruit orchards and 11,419 acres of orchard land, and 4 per cent of the tobacco crop and 967 acres of land were also destroyed.
Right now, the most critical matter at hand is how to plant wheat and vegetables in the coming Rabi season. If the crops are not planted by September/October, the country will face massive shortages of wheat and seasonal vegetables next year, and plantation will not be possible for another twelve months.


However the situation is further complicated, as the cultivation cannot begin until seed is made available and flood debris cleared from the fields. Seed from last years crop was washed away by the flood, as were farm implements. Wheat accounts for almost 60 per cent of the national cereal production, and if the coming season is missed, there will be widespread economic repercussions at the micro and macro levels.The Express Tribune

Devastation an eye-opener for opponents of Kalabagh Dam'

Punjab Water Council (PWC) has said the destruction caused by the unprecedented floods should serve as an eye opener for the opponents of Kala Bagh Dam. PWC Co-ordinator Hamid Malhi in a statement on Friday said that according to figures released by the federal government around 4.25 million acres of crops have been inundated and 20 million people affected by the floods.

Total losses would be manifold as compared to the total cost of construction of Kala Bagh Dam, which is US $6-7 billion. The recent statement by the Wapda chief has unearthed once again, the forces behind the opposition to this great economic benefit. No wonder if the very institution which is supposed to advocate the feasibility of the dam is engaged in subverting it, how will the goal ever be achieved?

He said it is a fact that the maximum river water inflows of 13,13,000 cusecs on 31st July 2010 were reduced by 2,20,000 cusecs by storing these inflows in Tarbela and Mangla dams. The devastation would have been much more if the outflow was not reduced by 17 percent by these two dams. The 2,53,000 cusecs flow of river Kabul and 1,28,000 cusecs flows of river Chenab on the same day could not be controlled, as there are no dams on these rivers. The river Chenab has no big dam site in Pakistan but Kala Bagh Dam could reduce the impact of Kabul river flows by storing 6 MAF of water and also producing 3,600 MW of electricity, Malhi added.

PWC strongly condemns the statement of the Wapda chief and demands that he should be immediately replaced. PWC asks both, the president and the prime minister as to how many more lives and economic loss the country has to suffer before the construction of Kala Bagh Dam starts, he concluded.[Business Recorder]

Can we use Mobiles and FM for the dissemination of Flood Relief info

We need your help, if you have not already visited then please visit 

www.RadioContactPakistan.com 

and it will directly start streaming the recent version of "GupShup with T(ahir) & T(ariq)". This program Bro Tahir Butt has exclusively recorded for the education of Flood effected peoples.

Now, the problem is that how this can reach to the respective audience. The effectees don't have computers, no internet. Bro Tahir and Dr Usmani did mention that we, who could listen, should do the voluntary work by making its CDs and transferring it there.

Unfortunately, FM or village radios are not around as in our neighboring country otherwise it could have reached to everybody thru that network.

People do have mobiles, but they are with limited functionality and have various packages, and more importantly their education level is another constraint, we cannot ask them that it is uploaded on such and such WAP site and download it from there, people may not have access to GPRS connectivity or MMS functionality. so, how can we make use of mobile technology.

Any help or contact in this regard will be help to the national cause. Please be exact and give the complete info, or telephonic contact so that right person could be contacted.

I am sure it is possible thru different modes, but am unable to figure out the right one.

Regards

Afzal

Flood-hit farmers: Govt asked to offer cheap loans

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Food and Agriculture has suggested to the government to disburse the $900 million World Bank loan to the flood-hit farmers at one per cent interest rate and declare the entire cropping zone as ‘calamity area’.
 

The committee which met here on Thursday also demanded the government to draw a relief policy for the flood-affected areas and recommended that long-term loans granted by all commercial banks and Zarai Taraqqiati Bank Ltd (ZTBL) should be waived.

It also asked the government to pay Rs56 billion to the ZTBL which were waived in the past. The committee asked the ZTBL to dispose of the claims of farmers affected by the flood on priority basis.

The meeting chaired by Javed Iqbal Warraich asked the ministry of food and agriculture to issue notification for declaration of calamity area in view of cropping zone, disease zone and crop susceptibility. The ministry should also devise the crop insurance policy.

The committee asked the ZTBL to issue loans on war-footing to rehabilitate agricultural land damaged by floods. At the same time, the ministry of food and agriculture should develop a comprehensive working plan for detailed survey of flood-hit areas, including a water policy for irrigation purposes.

With regard to establishing model villages, the Standing Committee suggested to re-name the scheme. It decided to visit such a village in Sargodha district.

The committee recommended that the ZTBL should reorganise and improve its credit scheme, and introduce innovation and modern technology of tractors, tube-wells, to farmers through private sector.

With regard to insurance policy, the committee recommended that the ZTBL should devise a clear loan policy for individual small farmers. In this regard, a full working plan should be prepared by the ministry of food and agriculture in collaboration with the ministry of finance, FBR and insurance companies.

The committee asserted that ZTBL should come up with efficient ways to revolutionise agricultural lending. The bank should devise strategies for lending to small and marginalised farmers. It should also ensure lending to farmers in livestock, dairy and fisheries and for development purposes including farmers in livestock and dairy fisheries.[DAWN]