MILAN: Floods in Pakistan have damaged at least 880,000 hectares of standing crops, including rice, maize, cotton, sugar cane, fruit orchards and vegetables, which represent about 3.7 per cent of total national crop area, the United Nations' food agency said on Tuesday, citing preliminary official estimates.

“Damage to the current paddy crop is moderate and is estimated by FAO and Pakistan's space agency (SUPARCO), as of 20 September, at about 252,700 tonnes, or 2.5 per cent of the normal national production,” the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in an update on the flood situation in Pakistan.

Nearly 92,000 livestock have perished and at least 5 million surviving animals were at risk, it said.

Over 2.75 million people were in immediate need of food assistance in the monsoon affected areas of Pakistan, the FAO said citing a joint assessment by the UN and government.