FOLLOWING the Indus Basin Water Treaty, which binds both India and Pakistan to forewarn each other about flood flows, should not both countries also be signing a pest surveillance accord?

It may be time for both countries to sit together and take steps to save regional agriculture from pest that can hit crops on both sides of the border.

With Pakistan moving to grant Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India and completely opening up its border, the possibility physical pest invasion will only increase on either side. Currently, around 800 trucks cross into Pakistan on daily basis. With poor, check any pests, such a possibility only increases many fold. Concepts like sanitary, phyto-sanitary and quarantine requirements are yet to be fulfilled on Pakistani side of the border.

Given the sheer number of trucks, in six-and-a-half (8am to 2.30pm) working-hours a day, it is next to impossible to check each consignment for pest clearance, especially without any supporting infrastructure. With such an accord in operation between both countries, the pest warning can come from the fields, where it is easier to be controlled before it spreads across the border and negatively impacts crops.

The need for such an accord is heightened by Pakistani wheat increasingly, and regularly, falling to rust disease in Narowal and adjoining areas — bordering towns on the foothills of Kashmir — during the last few years. Contrary to local farmers’ claim, who blame it on some airborne Indian pest, it may purely be local ecological phenomenon because of excessive humidity generated water bodies in the region, but the possibility of a pest invasion cannot be ruled out completely. Thus, there is a need to sit with the Indians before such a scenario develops elsewhere and spreads to other crops as well.Pakistan is not helping its case either as far as wheat rust is concerned. A few more showers during February and March, and it may be fighting a huge battle against the rust disease. The total production of wheat, in better years, hardly surpasses consumption by a million tonnes. If rust affects the crop — as is being feared because of some extra rain along with hot weather — and takes the figure down by one or two millions, the country would not have stocks to absorb the shock this year and may be importing the staple.

Unfortunately, during the last few years, Pakistan generally and Punjab particularly riveted all their attention to introducing new varieties. Currently, there are almost 44 wheat varieties in the market. Out of them, some 15 were introduced in the last five years. Understandably, most of them don’t cover more than 200,000 acres: however, they are still in the market and being sold. One of them, which at one point of time covered almost 40 per cent, became totally vulnerable to rust and has been dumped.This particular variety was introduced in 2006 and completed its life cycle in 2011.

This rush of premature release of varieties has generated current fears for this year’s crop. There are reports of people smuggling wheat seed, multiplying them at their own farms and selling them. Official organisations use private farms (read politically influential feudal) to first sow and then multiplyin seeds. All these seed varieties find their way to market from these farms much before they are tested for inherent strength and different ecological zones. They are sold in the name of new varieties and create confusion in the market. On average, three such varieties have hit the market each year during the last five.

The entire mechanism of introduction of new varieties has been hijacked by private interest groups, working over time. On the other hand, there is no mechanism to weed out a variety that has failed to perform. Even those varieties, against which the Punjab Agriculture Department is officially issuing advisories not to sow them, are still being sold in the market with complete impunity. The high-ups of the Punjab agriculture take pride in introduction of 15 varieties during their tenure of fives years, without realising their ill-effects on the crop.

So, the country has a two-pronged battle on its hands if it wants to save wheat crop. Firstly, it has to ensure that foreign pests don’t invade the crop. It would only be possible if both countries hammer out an accord on pest surveillance and warn each other of any pests that hit any crop along the border. Both of them share over 2,000km of border and agriculture is the way of life all along the bordering areas.

Secondly, Pakistan has to knock some sanity in its domestic wheat varieties. It would only happen if it stops pre-mature releases of seed. No variety should be allowed in the market before it is tested for all basic requirements of seed. It has huge swathes of land all-over the country to test seeds and later multiply them.

The seed multiplications could be restricted to official lands and those managing these tracks should be held responsible if it finds its way to the market. Weeding out varieties is as much important as introduction of new ones. The country has only had a bumper crop when any one particular variety performed well. With 44 wheat varieties, it would really be hard for farmers, particularly for illiterate and smaller ones, to choose right one of them. The country needs to make things easier for farmers and itself on the wheat front.