In what could be regarded as a major blow to country’s food security, Punjab is reportedly likely to fall short of its wheat sowing target for the 2022-23 season while Sindh government has also expressed inability to sow wheat even seventy five percent of the targeted four million acres due to flood ravages.
This eventually will result in lower national grain production and the country will once again have to rely on imports to avoid the commodity’s shortages. Being an agrarian economy, this situation is not acceptable and affordable.
There is no denying that climate induced disaster in the form of floods this year has wreaked with every sector including the agriculture but had we done necessary work and planning in advance including bringing vast swathes of barren land cultivable, we would not have been faced with such kind of situation.
For instance areas such as Cholistan could be developed for agricultural purposes through right kind of interventions such as provision of free land to landless farmers and extending financial assistance to them to adopt latest technologies..
Then given the threat posed by climate change, our departments concerned will have to play a pivotal role in not only producing climate resilient and high yielding crop varieties but also guiding and helping the farmers as to how best they can protect their crops from changing weather patterns. Out of box solutions are need of the hour to ensure food security.
