DADU, Jan 7: The deputy chief of the USAID in Pakistan, Nisar Ahmed Pathan, has said that the development agency has launched a programme to boost agriculture sector in flood-hit areas of Sindh by encouraging sunflower cultivation and providing free of cost seed and fertiliser to the growers.

The programme envisaged distribution of sunflower seed and fertiliser worth $1,500 million among 9,215 farmers through an NGO, he said while speaking at a ceremony held in Reejhpur village of Khairpur Nathan Shah taluka on Friday to distribute the seed and fertiliser among 120 farmers.

He said that the money had been donated by American people for the seven flood-hit districts of Sindh where agriculture sector had borne the brunt of last year's catastrophic floods.

He said that the USAID would provide a 100kg bag of DAP, a 100kg bag of urea and 4kg seed of sunflower for two acres of land to each grower benefiting from the programme and pay him Rs5,000 for harvesting the crop.

Mr Pathan said that there was shortage of palm oil in Sindh and after sunflower cultivation, the shortage of cooking oil would end.

DCO Dadu, Mohammad Iqbal Memon lauded the efforts of the US government and people to assist the flood-affected farmers and said that crop standing on 284,630 acres of land had been flooded in Dadu.

He said that the agriculture department was coordinating with sunflower growers.

Pakistan People's Party leader Zafar Ahmed Leghari thanked the US government for helping flood-hit people and appealed to international organisations to launch a programme to help them in constructing houses.

Sono Khangrani of the Sindh Rural Support Organisation said that 9,215 farmers in the district had started sowing sunflower on 9,500 acres of land.