The recent floods and heavy rainfall have caused damage of over Rs297 billion and destroyed over 2.84 million acres of crops in Sindh, 778,742 acres in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and 108229 acres in Balochistan, 130,140 acres in Punjab, the Ministry of National Food Security and Research reported. The report issued by the Food Security Ministry shows that the recent flood and heavy rainfall have destroyed crops on 2.84 million acres including 1.467 million acres of the cotton crop, and over a million acres of rice crop. Other damaged crops include 101,000 acres of date farms, 45,000 acres of sugarcane, 29,000 acres of chilli, 42,000 acres of onion, 12,000 acres of tomato, and 30,000 acres of multiple vegetable crops.

The report shows that at least 1976 cattle lost their lives due to heavy floods in Sindh. It adds that a total of 778,742 acres of crops were damaged in KP amid the recent floods and rainfall causing damage of over Rs3.66 billion. The affected crops include 4794 areas of maze, 3882 acres of rice, 957 acres of tobacco, 938 acres of vegetables, 837 acres of pulses, 2596 acres of date farms, 60 acres of sugarcane, and 85 acres of potato crops. While in Balochistan 108,229 acres of crops were affected while 24,854 cattle and over 81,000 chickens were reported dead causing damage of Rs19.84 billion. While in Punjab over 130,140 acres of crops were affected by devastating floods and rainfall and over 865 animals were reported dead amid the calamity, the Food Security Ministry reported.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP