Pest attack on sunflower crop

By Saleem Shaikh



THE severe shortage of irrigation water and recent attack of an unidentified pest have hit the standing sunflower crop in Sindh.
Information collected from individual growers and officials in the provincial irrigation department indicates that the sunflower crop might post up to 50 per cent production losses in some areas. Cultivators complain that they received 60 per cent less water during the current Rabi season.

Many growers in lower Sindh say that most of their crop has been damaged. The pest attack began some two weeks ago and took the crop in its grip in the adjoining sunflower growing districts in a short span of time, said Mehmood Shah, a Thatta-based farmer.

Nawaz Memon, General Secretary of Sindh Abadgar Board, said: “Having started from Badin, the pest spread to Umerkot, Mirpurkhas and Sanghar districts.” The sun flower growing districts-Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, Thatta, Badin and Sanghar -- account for more than 75 per cent of the crop output.

“This Rabi season sunflower has been cultivated on 1,61,943 hectares against the target of 267,000 hectares set for Sindh. The overall output is around 40 per cent of the 3,90,000 tons production target,” officials in the provincial agriculture department said.

Farmers told this scribe that despite use of different pesticides, pest attack intensified in the entire Thatta, Badin, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas and Umerkot districts, where, they said, almost 50 per cent of the crop was infected.

“The strange pest has affected my sunflower crop on 50 acres. I used different pesticides but nothing positive came out and the problem went from bad to worse,” said Abdul Majeed, a local grower in Kunri sub-division of Umerkot.

There was no water for the crop during the last four months and now growers were expecting 45 per cent reduction in output, he complained.

“I have sown sunflower on 64 acres in the Samaro tehsil of Umerkot district, but the output would be 40-45 per cent less because of water shortage,” said Pir Nazir Jan Sirhindi.

Sunflower is harvested from March to mid-April.

Illahi Bux, a Mirpurkhas-based small farmer fears that the poor crop output would push the growers to extreme poverty. “I have borrowed seed, fertiliser and pesticides from a local trader for cultivation of sunflower on 20 acres, but would remain indebted to the trader if the crop fails to survive the pest attack,” he feared.

“Actually, it is a fruit fly that carries a kind of virus on its legs. When the fly sits on the flower, its yellow leaves start falling one by one and the flower gradually dries up,” said a grower Amin Memon, chairman Lar Abadgar Board.

Some agriculturists believe that the pest attack is in its early stage, and serious losses to growers can be avoided.

“If research teams of provincial agriculture department are sent to affected areas to diagnose the pest and prescribe the required pesticides to growers, the loss can be minimised,” said Akhund Ghulam Mohammad, general secretary of the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture in Hyderabad.

Sunflower growers complain of apathetic attitude of research officials of the local agriculture extension department towards their problems. “So far not a single team of the research wing has visited their farms to identify the nature of the pest attack and prescribe the required medicine,” complained Rahim Jat of Thatta.

But, officials in the extension wing in Hyderabad said research teams from Tando Jam University had been sent to the sites to ascertain the cause and nature of the viral or pest attack.

“Teams have reached Badin, Umerkot, Mirpurkhas and other areas, where no major losses were found from the pest attack. However, relevant pesticide sprays have been advised to growers to control pest attack,” informed Sati Dan Singh Sodho, EDO (Agriculture) Badin district.

Provincial agriculture department, secretary Agha Jan Akhtar says he has focused his attention on increased field visits of the agriculture research wing to deal with issues of viral and pest attacks on different crops.

“We have set up a cell in our department in Karachi, which has been asked to ensure that research teams regularly visit the farmers and discuss their crop-related problems and advise them about the solution of their problems so that their financial losses are minimised,” he said.

“The cell submits its fortnightly report to me about the performance of the officials of the extension and research wing and the field assistants and their interaction with growers.

Cultivators, however, do not see sunflower target being achieved.

“Last year, the government neither announced support price for sunflower nor established centres for the procurement of the crop. Therefore, seeing no option, the hapless growers were compelled to sell their crops to local middlemen at throwaway price of Rs1,200-1,300 per 40 kg.” They intend not to cultivate sunflower in the next Rabi season, if this time their crop fails to fetch a minimum price of Rs2,500/40kg. For, they say, the cost of sunflowers sowing, like any other crop, has increased on account of escalating prices of inputs.

Average per acre yield of sunflower in Sindh is 15-20 maunds and sometimes, if all goes well, it reaches 30 maunds per acre. While average cost of sunflower cultivation stands at around Rs18,00020,000 per acre, says Amin Memon.