STRONG dusty winds, coupled with delayed irrigation water supply in lower Sindh, have hit major kharif crops, including paddy, phutti and sugarcane, at the pre-maturing stage. The region — close to the coastal area — normally gets such high velocity winds, but this season is said to have been somewhat unusual for the crops.

Among the three crops, paddy sowing was first delayed by a month due to late canal water supplies. However, water is now being released downstream from the Kotri barrage, and the requirements of 14 canals of the three barrages are being met.

Farmers estimate that 10-20pc of the losses would eventually be recorded mainly in paddy and phutti crops. Growers normally start preparing paddy nurseries with the availability of minimum water in canals and watercourses, depending on seasonal irrigation water supply by the provincial irrigation department.

However, water was unavailable in the Kotri barrage command area for a month during early kharif season. Around 700,000 to 800,000 acres are used for paddy in this area. Paddy cultivation is, however, increasing in the exclusive cotton zone.

Coastal winds first hit the flowering of cotton in lower Sindh, damaging boll in cotton plants. Owing to some flower-dropping, growers are now awaiting the second flowering, which usually takes another 20-25 days

Paddy plants in nurseries got older, and were then hit by strong winds at the transplantation stage. Around 10-15pc of them per acre, on average, were uprooted, according to some farmers. By mid-July, the wind velocity started to dissipate.

Coastal winds also first hit the flowering of cotton, damaging boll in cotton plants. Owing to some flower-dropping, growers are now awaiting the second flowering, which usually takes another 20-25 days.

“In the case of sugarcane, moisture in its leaves got dried due to the fast billowing winds. It was unusual particularly for paddy and cotton in this kharif season,” said Sindh Abadgar Board President Abdul Majeed Nizamani. Along with water shortage, around 10-15pc loss in paddy is expected due to strong winds during transplantation, and he anticipates a drop of around 0.5m tonnes in overall paddy production.

According to Mr Nizamani, the average paddy output of coarse variety in Sindh is 42 maunds per acre. If two maunds of paddy, he says, are lost in every acre due to winds, it would lead to substantial losses. However, this is the initial stage of the crop and harvesting is still 90 days away, and nobody knows what would be the weather conditions. “The rough market price of rice is Rs2,500 per maund, so the overall financial losses from the crop are going to be Rs3.5bn.”

Similarly, we will lose around 1.5 maunds of phutti per acre due to losses at the first flowering stage owing to the strong winds,” he said, adding that the losses are estimated at Rs4.5bn for lower Sindh, at a minimum price of Rs3,000 per maund.

Officials confirm the damage reported in the lower Sindh region due to the dust storm and winds. After mixing with water, the dust burns paddy plants in nurseries. According to the director general of agriculture research Dr Atta Soomro, the wind velocity would affect 10pc of the crop, but the farmers can prepare the nurseries again. He said growers don’t go for wind breakers, which could protect their farms against such strong winds.

According to paddy producer Nabi Bux Sathio, the hybrid seed nursery normally gets ready for transplantation in 25 days. But this season, seedlings remained in the nursery for around 50 days, owing to delayed irrigation water supply.

The non-availability of water affected the multiplication of roots and plants. Even sugarcane’s growth is affected, he said. If the canes’ achievable growth of six inches in a month is lost, it would result in a loss of around 150-200 maunds of the crop per acre.

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, July 21st, 2014