HYDERABAD: It is the first time in Fida Hussain Khoso’s career as a rice grower that he believes he will receive less than 50 percent yield due to the sudden heat wave that struck his crop right when it was ripening.
Residing near Mehar town, Dadu district, he said his family as usual had cultivated rice on 20 acres. They follow the sowing season starting from the months of May to June. “Everything was fine, but then a sudden heat wave destroyed the crop in the entire neighbourhood,” he said.
Farmers buy hybrid varieties of seeds from markets and normally get 50-60 maund per acre yield. But now it might be less than 50 percent of the yield, which would hit the rice producers hard as they have already invested a huge amount on cultivation.
About 20-25 years ago, Dadu was among a few districts along with Qambar-Shahdadkot, Larkana, Kashmore, Jacobabad and others in Sindh that produced fine quality rice.
Recalling the old varieties of rice and their distinct aroma and taste, Fida Hussain said now all the growers relied on the market to buy hybrid seed varieties for all the crops.
Ramzan Nangraj, a graduate from Sindh Agriculture University Tadojam, working with growers in Dadu district, said the reports were different from each area. Some farmers though their crop was affected by a virus, while others found white butterfly (insects) on the crop plants, which has affected the grain, he said.
“However, the growers are yet to ascertain the exact problems which may have destroyed the food crop at the time of ripening,” Nangraj added.
According to estimates given by the growers, they might lose 50-70 percent of crop yield this year.
So, if they harvested 50-60 maunds/acre in the normal season, they might not get only 25-30 maund/acre, depending on the situation in the area. He said this happened in early October, when the heat wave hit the crop.
Talking to rice producers from different areas it was learned that the supply of impure seeds and chemical input by unauthorised dealers and companies in the province has caused colossal losses to farmers. Growers have been observing empty cobs, which has alarmed the entire community.
Sindh Chamber of Agriculture President Qabool Muhammad Khatian linked the recent loss of major rice crop in the northern districts of the province to the adulterated seeds sold by certain dealers. He said they were receiving complaints by growers accusing seed providers for this loss.
Khatian did realise that climate change also contributed to lower yield of all crops, and said, “We have observed that for the last few years, farmers receive less than 50 percent yield of all crops, mainly wheat, cotton, rice, chilli and sugarcane.” In some areas growers could not even recover the cost of cultivation, he added.
“However, we cannot blame only climate change. These unauthorised dealers and companies have played a destructive role by providing adulterated seeds of seasonal crops and chemical inputs to farmers,” Khatian said, adding that it was happening because there was no check and balance by government authorities.
Sindh Growers Alliance (SGA) President Nawab Zubair Talpur also accused the provincial government authorities of putting growers at the mercy of unauthorised dealers, who supply impure seeds and chemical inputs.
“I have witnessed this in my own fields of cotton and chilli, where we received impure hybrid seeds,” he said. “We have cried against these happenings, but nobody from the government department paid heed to our complaints. Now, these complaints are pouring in from different areas by different crop producers,” he lamented.
He urged the government to implement much needed policies to avoid such happenings in future, as food security depended on agricultural success.
Altaf Mahesar of Basic Development Foundation (BDF), whose organisation has collected traditional seed varieties of different food crops, mainly wheat, rice, sorghum, pearl mullet and vegetables through farmers’ network in Dadu district, said it was enough to open the eyes of both growers and government authorities.
“We opposed the Seed Act 2015, which does not carry the issues facing farmers in terms of seed varieties. The Seed Act supports the hybrid seed varieties, advocating it as the only solution to have more yield to feed the growing population of the country,” he said.
Introduction of hybrid seeds on the pretext of population increase was not justifiable at the time, when growers were experiencing loss and failed to get the right yield, he added.
Mostly farmers have lost indigenous and traditional seed varieties and depend on the market to buy hybrid seeds, which were not authentic. It was observed that some rowdy elements kept these seeds from crops and used those seeds in the packing of brands to sell to unaware farmers.
Mahesar pleaded that these hybrid seed varieties were not prepared as per the local environment and weather. Thus, the recent climate change phenomenon like heat wave created problems for rice producers, who lost their entire crops.
“This will happen in future too until the seeds are not prepared in the local environment.
He gave examples of old high yielding rice varieties like irri 6, irri -9 and others, which survived heat waves in the province, as they were prepared as per the local environment. These varieties of irri family were considered good quality, and usually grew in parts of Sindh and southern Punjab.