UMERKOT, March 17: After suffering huge losses for three consecutive years to rains and floods, growers in Umerkot district this year plan to outsmart nature. They are sowing cotton early in the hope that by the time monsoon arrives the crop would have been harvested. This will save them from losing their standing or immature crop.

In the past few years, the growers have noticed changes in the weather pattern, with the erratic monsoon and floods being its biggest indicators. They bore the brunt of floods in 2010 and 2011, and the heavy monsoon in 2012.

“The farmers suffered heavy losses in 2011 and 2012 as standing crops of cotton and chilli were destroyed by the flood, and then the heavy monsoon,” said Liaquat Janjua, a landlord. “We feared a repeat of last year’s circumstances and thus, we have begun sowing our crops early.”

According to the growers, the most significant change has been loss of spring season between winter and summer. Winters are ending late and summers are starting earlier, skipping the time the growers had to sowing their crops. Spring is the ideal season for sowing crops since the plant saplings cannot bear the scorching heat of southern Sindh.

Though experts agree that growers must significantly contain damage to the crop if they sow it early, but warn that crop yield would be low since the weather is not suitable for germination — the process of a sapling sprouting from a seed.

Unlike wheat, cotton is a sensitive crop. Wheat crop is flexible and does not take much effect if sown earlier or later, but cotton on the other hand, needs humid spring weather for germination, otherwise growth of the plant is effected.

Mr Janjua said that weather pattern had changed over the past few years. “The winter never lasted till March, and we did not witness southern winds or feel cold,” he said.

According to him, five per cent of cotton crop has already been sown. “By the end of March it is expected that 15 per cent sowing would be complete,” he said.

The Umerkot agriculture department shared damage to crops by rain and hailstorms in the last Rabi season. According to the figures, 80 per cent of the chilli crop, 10 per cent of wheat, 15 per cent of rape and mustard seed, 10 per cent of fennel, 15 per cent of onion, 30 per cent of ribgrass, 15 per cent of mango and 12 per cent sunflower crops suffered damage during the outgoing winter.

Low crop yield It appears that the problems in crop yield have been present for a considerable time because of a number of factors including low quality seeds and availability of water.

Another reason for early sowing of cotton is that water is currently available. Umerkot district falls at the tail end of Nara canal which means that water here reaches late or is always less than the required quantity because it has been consumed upstream. This year, when the growers have found both land and water available to them, they jumped on the opportunity and sowed cotton early.

One of the reasons for low yield of crops is a lack of good quality seeds. Giving an example, grower Adam Maher said that 3,500,000 maunds of quality wheat seed was needed for cultivation across Sindh but hardly 1,000,000 maunds was available in the market and that, too, mostly accessible to only influential landowners since seed banks are never established in districts.

He was sceptical about early sowing of cotton. “If 20 per cent of the crop has been sown early then the yield would also be 20 per cent less,” he said.

Another problem which affected crops was substandard pesticides and fertilisers and the way they were used by farmers who do not know any better.

Growers and experts called for generating a new and better quality seeds for cotton crop which would enable the crop to bear weather changes and use less water.

When asked, the Umerkot deputy director agriculture (extension) Satidan Singh Sodho said that new seeds developed by the Sindh Agriculture Research Institute, Tandojam, had provided to the agriculture department for testing. He said that recently a committee had been set up to check fertilisers and pesticides adulteration, and hoped the committee would be fulfill its responsibilities to the satisfaction of growers.