MUZAFFARGARH: Relentless rain for two days -- Wednesday and Thursday -- in Muzaffargarh has devastated the wheat crop which was at pre-harvesting stage.

The hard blow dashed the hopes of farmers who were just a couple of weeks from wheat harvesting stage. Farmers demanded that the government declare the area disaster-hit because wheat on 400,000 acres had totally been damaged.

Rain started late on Wednesday and continued on Thursday. The more worrying thing is the forecast that it will continue till Friday.

Malik Ahmad Ali, farmer from Muzaffargarh tehsil, said that his 25 acre crop first came under yellow rust attack two weeks ago. At that stage, no pesticide is advisable because the crop is at the final pre-reaping stage.

“Now, rain has left nothing for me,” he choked the tears, and appealed to the government to announce a relief package for farmers. Dozens of other farmers phoned this scribe and that that they appeal to Prime Minister Imran Khan and chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar to announce a relief package for wheat farmers. Besides wheat farmers, sugarcane farmers have their own share of troubles.

In Sanawan area of Kot Addu, two sugar mills closed operations on Tuesday despite the crop is still being harvested in several areas of the district. The abrupt closure of mills has left the farmers who have still standing sugarcane crops.

Lockdown and imposition of Section 144 also compounded their problems because labourer cannot be assembled to work in filed. Mills also cited the same issue that the lockdown had created problems for their labourers and technical staff.

A mill official said the farmers could not transport the yield to the mills in the last four days and that is why they closed the mills. Farmers, however, said due to rain in the last week, the rainwater was still standing in sugarcane fields and that is why they could not reap the yield and transported to the mills.

Farmers said they were disappointed at the quality and content of the questions of so-called senior journalists who met the prime minister for the welfare of rain- and pest attack-hit farmers, and instead put up their personal problems.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2020