Daily Times

An unexpected hailstorm obliterated Okara’s wheat crop just a month before it was scheduled to be harvested-a development that is just as abrupt as it is unwelcome for an economy that has already seen its grain production fall to historic lows after last year’s floods. Flood-hit Sindh, the country’s second-largest food basket after northwestern Punjab, was already projected to produce 50 per cent less wheat this year, but now it appears that Punjab isn’t immune to the elements either.

Now, the wheat crop has been thrown into even more uncertainty, signalling serious trouble for consumers who may be looking at even higher prices that are bound to exacerbate the country’s ongoing food crisis. With food inflation going through the roof and coats of living growing increasingly unmanageable, we cannot afford any more climate-related losses.

Those who lost their crops to the floods still haven’t been compensated for their losses, particularly smallholder farmers who do not have the resources to buy new seeds and other inputs for their winter crops. With no crop insurance policies in place or even subsidies for agricultural inputs, many have been left to battle the elements all by themselves.

The frequency of climate-related events increases by the year, re-emerging with higher intensity each time but we appear to be completely unprepared for what the future holds. There have been numerous calls for enhanced investment in climate adaptation over the last decade but to no avail. In the current context, the development and distribution of improved wheat seeds are imperative to mitigating the damages caused by climate disasters and must be seen as the key to securing wheat-dependent livelihoods.

Of course, any adaptation strategy is likely to fall short in the face of widespread devastation such as the kind that was witnessed during the 2022 floods but can still offset some of the losses incurred by smaller environmental events. Now is the time to invest in climate-resilient infrastructure, drought-resistant crops and better mechanisms for forecasting extreme weather events. The government is presented with the opportunity to create more models for local adaptability and community-based capacity development that can better prepare people for the implications of climate change. *