PESHAWAR: Farmers in Swat Valley on Sunday sought the government’s help to recover from the heavy losses they face after heavy rains and hailstorms over the weekend battered the valley, decimating orchards and standing crops.
Farmers said that the damage is enormous and widespread as 80 per cent of peach, plum, persimmon, apple and pear orchards over an area of more than 35,000 acres in the valley have been affected.
It may be noted here that the terror-hit Swat district is dependent on agriculture and tourism as its main source of income whereas this year, it has been hit not only by bad weather conditions but also the coronavirus pandemic.
The farmers said that there will also be a shortage of fruits in Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and a few other cities of the country.
“This means that fruits will have to be imported and consumers will pay higher prices than usual,” they said.
Fazal-e-Maola Zahid, an agriculture expert from Swat told Pakistan Today that thousands of acres of orchards in Kokari, Shamozai, Amlok Dara, Barikot in Lower Swat, Matta Tehsil in Upper Swat, Charbagh and Khawaja Khel were hit by fierce weather conditions during the last few days.
“More 50,000 families’ income comes from these orchards. Besides orchards, standing wheat crops on 100,000 acres in Swat district, which would have been ready for harvesting within four weeks, are also of no use now,” he added.
Muhammad Ishaq, an orchard owner in Swat district, told Pakistan Today that he had planted peach and plum orchards on 50 acres of leased land and spent millions of rupees on its upkeep, fertilisers and pesticides by borrowing from middlemen.
He explained that farmers are now mired in debts of middlemen due to loans they took to look after the plantations. “How will we repay the loans if there isn’t a crop to harvest anymore?” Ishaq lamented.
In a survey conducted by its Agricultural Advocacy Unit and the Khapal Kaliwal organisation, Kokari Kisan Council has estimated the cost of a one acre crop at Rs150,000. In the context, the survey added, the total loss of crops and orchards on 200,000 acres across Swat is about Rs30 billion.
Farmers have demanded that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister (CM) Mahmood Khan, who also belongs to an agriculture family in Swat district, immediately visit his home district and announce a financial package for farmers who are in a tough spot.
Furthermore, officials of the Kokari Farmers’ Board also demanded the provincial government to immediately compensate for the calamity-affected agricultural sector of the valley by announcing an adequate financial assistance package for farmers.
“The growers’ community also requires aid for purchasing fertilisers and high-quality seeds to be able to stand on their feet and contribute to the prosperity of the valley by providing employment, improvement of the environment and food security,” they concluded.
