The rice-growing belt having over 400,000 acres of cultivable land duly irrigated by the Rice and Warah canals and partly by Dadu canal is facing an acute shortage of irrigation water.
This was stated by Siraj Rashdi, president of the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture, Larkana chapter, on Thursday.
“The tail-enders are suffering the most. We are already one month late in water arrival and under the circumstances, more delay would risk the paddy crop amidst the unavailability of certified seeds,” he said.
The days to sow IRRI-6, IRRI-8 and DR-92 were almost over and now peasants, small khatedars and landlords relied on hybrid seeds, he said.
The hybrid seeds were available in the market, but their higher prices would affect the overall production, he said.