Lahore:
A winter drought ravages crops in Punjab, the farmers said, the region being dried up by a 40% drop in precipitation.
Pakistan – which houses more than 240 million people – ranks among the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which, according to scientists, make extreme weather events more common and more serious.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) claims that the agricultural heart of the eastern province of Punjab saw 42% less precipitation than normal between early September and mid-January.
“The lack of rains had a major financial impact on farmers, whether they have a big detention or a small one,” AFP told AFP for the association of fruit and vegetable exporters.
“The potato is a basic food in my region. The average is very low this year. Usually, we could easily get 100 to 120 bags per acre. This winter, we only got 60 bags per acre bags . ” The agricultural sector contributes nearly a quarter of Pakistan GDP and employs 37% of national workforce, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture.
But Asghar said that many small farmers “already abandoned” and were looking for a job elsewhere.
“This dry time spell will have a very unfavorable reaction to them,” he said.
The Sindh, the most urbanized province of Pakistan located in the south, has witnessed 52% precipitation below normal levels according to the PMD, while Balutchistan in the West experienced a drop of 45%.
The “light drought” prevailed in most of the punjab, all the Sindh and about half of the Balutchistan in January according to the PMD, which quickly predicts the “Flash droughts” in the hottest months to come.
Blé farmer Ishfaq Ahmad Jatt said his harvest in the Multan region of the Punjab center was “seriously affected” by lack of rain.
“Even five years ago, we used to get winter rains for a week at a time. They were light rains but they were sufficient for us,” said the 45 -year -old man . “If it is not raining soon, you can expect production to drop up to 50%.” Pakistan is generally based on the industrial river water which bisses the country from north to south, where it flows into the Oman Sea.
