Climate change discouraging cultivation in Sindh, PA told

KARACHI: The Provincial Assembly of Sindh was informed on Thursday that the agriculture department is aware that the issue of climate change has been affecting a significant number of farmers to the extent that they remain away from farming activities, but mitigation measures are being introduced to help the affected growers.

Agriculture Minister Sardar Muhammad Bux Khan Mahar said this while answering queries from the lawmakers in the PA during the question hour of the session.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) legislator Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, who is also chairman of the PA’s Public Accounts Committee, raised the issue that up to 50 per cent of the farmers in the province have not been able to cultivate their crops.

Khuhro wanted to know the reason forcing such a large number of growers to remain away from farming activities. Responding to the question, Mahar admitted that climate change has adversely impacted the farming sector.

The minister said the government had launched the Benazir Hari Card as one of the relief measures for the affected growers. He told the House that growers would be given loans on soft terms, and subsidies under the Hari Card.

He claimed that the PPP’s provincial government had never abandoned growers. He said the government had taken practical steps to extend relief to the farmers. He also said the eligible growers would get Rs50,000 as loan against every acre of their farmlands to promote agriculture.

He pointed out that the provincial government has been trying its best to introduce such crops that can withstand the adverse impacts of climate change.

He said his department has also been trying to promote farming of organic food products, as has been the norm around the world. The Sindh government conducts awareness campaigns and workshops to pass on useful information to growers to promote farming, he added.

He said mobile teams of the agriculture department have also been conducting the same awareness drives. The government has made extensive efforts to revive farming activities after the devastating floods of 2022, he added.

He assured the legislature that latest technological advancements would be used to help farmers. He said that a smartphone app has also been introduced by the government to help growers find fertiliser.

The House also discussed the issue of four members-elect who have not yet taken the oath of office after their victory in this year’s general elections.

Former PA speaker Agha Siraj Khan Durrani raised this issue. Three of these lawmakers-elect belong to the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), while one MPA-elect from Karachi is Jamaat-e-Islami Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman.