'Food shortage looms in flood-hit S Asia'
South Asian nations, including India, face "serious" threats of food shortage, says UN.
By PTI |
NEW YORK: The South Asian nations including India, that have been hit by floods and landslides affecting more than 28 million people, face "serious" threats of food shortage, the United Nations said on Saturday.
The food situation gives "serious cause for concern" due to loss of animals and unfavourable crop prospects following damage to recently planted crops, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said.
"Opportunities for replanting once the water has fully receded are limited as the sowing period of the main cereal season normally ends in July in India and Bangladesh and by mid-August in Nepal," it said.
In India, where the three worst flood-affected states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Assam account for roughly a quarter of the country's total rice production, preliminary reports indicate that about 1 million hectares of cereal land have been submerged in Bihar alone, it reported in its latest update on the flood situation.
While this year's cereal production is likely to be reduced in these three north-eastern states, output at national level will depend on weather conditions in the coming months, FAO reported.
In Nepal, the affected agro-ecological zone of Terai (plains) is the country's grain basket, accounting for over 70 per cent of the total production of rice, the basic staple.
Though water levels have receded from the second week of August, thousands of hectares of agricultural land have been destroyed at the peak of the planting season.
While a detailed assessment of crop losses is not yet available, the overall outlook for this year's production has deteriorated. At sub-national level, food shortages in the Terai, affected by drought and floods in 2006, are likely to worsen, the food agency said.
In Bangladesh, preliminary official estimates indicate that some 854,000 hectares of rice paddies have been lost to floods and another 582,000 hectares partially damaged. In aggregate, the area affected represents some 13 per cent of the total planted area, seriously compromising prospects for this year rice production.
The food situation gives "serious cause for concern" due to loss of animals and unfavourable crop prospects following damage to recently planted crops, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said.
"Opportunities for replanting once the water has fully receded are limited as the sowing period of the main cereal season normally ends in July in India and Bangladesh and by mid-August in Nepal," it said.
In India, where the three worst flood-affected states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Assam account for roughly a quarter of the country's total rice production, preliminary reports indicate that about 1 million hectares of cereal land have been submerged in Bihar alone, it reported in its latest update on the flood situation.
While this year's cereal production is likely to be reduced in these three north-eastern states, output at national level will depend on weather conditions in the coming months, FAO reported.
In Nepal, the affected agro-ecological zone of Terai (plains) is the country's grain basket, accounting for over 70 per cent of the total production of rice, the basic staple.
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Though water levels have receded from the second week of August, thousands of hectares of agricultural land have been destroyed at the peak of the planting season.
While a detailed assessment of crop losses is not yet available, the overall outlook for this year's production has deteriorated. At sub-national level, food shortages in the Terai, affected by drought and floods in 2006, are likely to worsen, the food agency said.
In Bangladesh, preliminary official estimates indicate that some 854,000 hectares of rice paddies have been lost to floods and another 582,000 hectares partially damaged. In aggregate, the area affected represents some 13 per cent of the total planted area, seriously compromising prospects for this year rice production.
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