LAHORE, June 16: Associations of farmers have criticised the federal government for its failure to announce policy for basic manufacturing of pesticides. According to them, the government has not been able to form such a policy during the last five decades. The Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock did formulate a policy this year during the budget preparations, but it is yet to be made public.

In the absence of the policy, they insist, the farmers suffered a loss of billions in 2003 when almost 30 per cent of cotton crop was lost to last minute pest attack. They fear that chances of repeat of such an occurrence were there because of late sowing, weather pattern (wet and humid so far) and a questionable availability of pesticides in the country.

According to an official of the Farmers Associates Pakistan, no airline risks airlifting pesticides in liquid or even in powder form because of highly toxic content and changed international scenario after the 9/11. All such consignments have to be shipped by sea which is a time consuming process. “That’s why farmers and other stakeholders are pressing the government to encourage basic manufacturing in the country but the federal government is yet to wake up,” he said.

A spokesman of the Agri-Forum Pakistan is of the opinion that consumption of pesticides, which include weedicides and fungicides, is set to grow as awareness about their utility among farmers increases. The farmers now have realised that proper use of pesticides can increase produce by 25 to 30 per cent. This can further increase consumption, adding to the urgency of policy formulation. In fact, the consumption is already growing — Pakistan is the biggest importer of pesticides from China in terms of volume.

“Take the example of India which forced all multinationals to put up local plants and is now exporting pesticides,” he said.

Assad Arifeen, a cotton grower from Rahim Yar Khan, said because of late sowing in core districts this year, reproductive period of cotton would be much longer. “The crop has two stages - vegetative and reproductive - and they normally span five weeks from late August to entire September. Normally the farmers have to protect their crop for five weeks. This year, this stage is expected to be longer, possibly seven weeks,” he said.

The cropping pattern, according to Arifeen, has also intensified to around 150 per cent. “This (cropping intensity) makes it harder for farmers to break the pest cycle — the pest finds ways and means to sustain itself because of continued vegetative supply coming from repeated crops. All these factors necessitate availability of highly effective pesticides,” he insists.