Banana orchards getting axed on water scarcity alarms

KARACHI: Water scarcity in Sindh has jeopardised cotton, sugarcane, vegetable and fruit crops, with banana orchards getting chopped clean as farmers could not bear the rising cost of light diesel to run tube wells.

In 2017, growers faced the worst water shortage when they did not receive canal water for two months – February and March. Now, water has not arrived in the canals for the fourth straight month since February 2022.

Nisar Khaskheli, a grower from Khairpur said, “I am a mid-level grower and spending around Rs200,000 per month on diesel to run tube-wells only.” He called this the worse year in terms of water shortage.

Khaskheli faced the 2017 dry spell as well, when he had used tube wells up till April 6.

“When the heat increases after April 15, banana orchards need water every 8th day. Growers are now removing banana orchards, as there is no water and diesel prices have also increased. We cannot maintain our orchards,” he added.

Gone were the days when they were concerned about DAP, urea and pesticides, he lamented, “Now, we want the crop to survive and be saved.”

Underground water was not much useful and it was not available across the province with the exception of some katcha areas, where fresh underground water was available. “Now, water reaches lands once in 15 days or a month, that too with low level. It is only sufficient for drinking purpose of humans and animals,” Khaskheli said.

He said that the cotton crop had dried up in several areas of Sindh. “Dried flowers are falling off stalks amid water scarcity and an increase in temperature,” he added.

Paddy season has also arrived, which needs stable water supply round the clock. Besides, sugarcane, cotton and banana were the worst affected crops. “In order to save a 50 acre banana crop, Rs1.0 million are being spent on water expenses alone,” Khaskheli said.

Mehmood Nawaz Shah, Senior Vice President, Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB), said that water shortage was a subjective term, it was an acute shortage since March and April. “Early Kharif starts in Sindh when it grows 1.3 to 1.4 million acres or 0.55 million hectares of cotton. So far, around 50 percent of cotton sowing has been achieved.”

The problem was however maintaining the cotton crop due to acute water shortage. This was not all, he said that around “0.6 to 0.7 million acres of sugarcane and 0.3 to 0.4 million acres of vegetables and fruits are at risk”. Officially there was a 50 percent shortage at barrages. However, 60 to 70 percent water shortage was recorded in several areas in the province. “Paddy is one of the major Kharif crops. Its nurseries are sown in May. But due to the unavailability of water, less than five percent of paddy nurseries were reported. June has arrived and people are waiting to complete sowing.”

The SAB official said that water in the canals might not be enough because ice melting was low. However, the situation has aggravated and Sindh’s 40 percent water was missing downstream Taunsa. “National Assembly Committee and experts had checked it. This has been recorded but they are delaying the issuance of meeting minutes. Sindh is facing more damage than other provinces because of water shortages,” he said.

On the other hand, early cotton picking has started in Sindh and some ginning factories are expected to start operations by the mid of this month. Naseem Usman, Chairman of Karachi Cotton Brokers Association, said that water situation has improved in some areas, but temperature had increased which might affect the crop.

Pakistan’s cotton sowing target was 2.32 million hectares in 2022, but only 1.936 million hectares was achieved, down 6.9 percent compared to last year’s sowing of 2.078 million hectares.

Cotton sowing target in Sindh was 0.64 million hectares, of which 0.594 million hectares or 92.8 percent was achieved.

One grower said that achieving the sowing target was not the major issue, but maintaining the crop was due to water shortage. Cotton flowering would not sustain amid water shortages and increased temperature.

Gulab Shah, a grower from Thatta, said that 50 percent of cultivated lands in Thatta had already become barren because of water shortages, but this year the acreage of barren land was even higher. “Crops and vegetables are drying up,” he said.