Abstract:
The floods that hit Pakistan in 2010 have been classified
by many as being the worst natural disaster the country
has seen in its entire history. The agriculture sector
which is the backbone of the country’s economy has been
reported to be effected the most by this natural
calamity. The country already had several problems to
deal with before the occurrence of the natural calamity
that at one time had one-fifth of the country under
water. People affected by the flood are said to be close
to 20 million. On the whole the cost of the flood on the
economy has been calculated to be a massive Rs 855
billion with the agriculture sector bearing a substantial
Rs 429 billion. Kharif crop damaged has been estimated to
be spread over 2.1 million hectares.
The floods further added to the troubles of the sugar
industry of the country, which was already in turmoil
prior to the natural disaster, as sugarcane upon which
the major percentage of sugar production depends was one
of the Kharif crops that were ruined by the flood. The
affected sugarcane plantation area is estimated to be 18
percent. This is expected to damage 7.5 million tons of
the crop, which in turn means the government would have
to increase its imports further to meet the demand
resulting in further enhancing the trade deficit as well
as increasing the prices of the commodity to new limits.
This report highlights the extent of the damage caused to
the sugarcane crop and the sugar industry by the 2010
floods. In addition, the government responses to the
floods and the crises facing the sugar industry have been
assessed and suggestions for improvements have been made.
