HYDERABAD, May 18: The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) has observed that Sindh is facing a around 50 per cent shortage of water and the situation is badly affecting the recently sown Kharif crops of chillies and cotton.

In a recent meeting, the issue of water shortage was discussed threadbare and the participants urged the caretaker dispensation as well as the incoming government to keep agriculture on top of their priorities to avoid a crisis.

The meeting, chaired by SCA senior vice president Ejaz Nabi Shah, called for framing of agriculture-friendly policies and their effective implementation.

The meeting expressed concern over the fact that the interim provincial government had miserably failed to get Sindh’s due share of water from the Indus River System Authority (Irsa).

“Nurseries of rice crop are not being prepared for which the interim government and its irrigation minister should be held responsible,” the meeting observed.

It also noted that water was being supplied to growers on a rotation basis for the past two weeks while the tail-end growers of main canals in Sindh were suffering the most because no water was reaching their distributaries. The meeting said that Sindh would hardly be able to achieve 50 per cent of the set target for sowing of various crops.

The SCA meeting also condemned an increase of Rs30 per bag of urea and urged the federal industries ministry to take notice of the unilateral decision taken by fertilizers companies.

The meeting also urged the government to fix the price of cotton this year at Rs4,000 per 40 kilograms. It expressed apprehensions that since de-silting of LBOD (Left Bank Outfall Drain) had not been done properly, lower Sindh districts of Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, Tando Allahyar and Tando Mohammad Khan could suffer badly.

The meeting was attended by Nabi Bux Sathio, Zahid Hussain Bhurgari, Mohammad Khan Sarejo, Mir Abdul Karim Talpur, Malook Nizamani, Agha Khadim Hussain Shah, Mir Sikandar Talpur, Dr Roshan Ali Khoso and others.