Climate Change: Excessive Rainfalls Adversely Impacted Seasonal Fruits Production

Shazia Mehboob

Peshawar: Breaking the past 63 years rainfall record, the May 2023 excessive torrential rains coupled with hailstorms have negatively impacted the production of summer fruits including watermelon, melon, banana, and mangoes, as well as tomatoes and other seasonal vegetables in the country, including Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Highly vulnerable to climate change, Pakistan witnessed excessive rainfall last month, which caused negative impacts on the overall production of seasonal fruits, orchards, and vegetables, besides adversely affecting farmers’ income.

The Met Office spokesman said that the national rainfall recorded last month was excessively high and above average, i.e., plus 127 per cent, and stood as the second wettest rainfall in May during the past 63 years, as 34.30 mm of rainfall was recorded in 1987.

An Agriculture Department official told that the record-breaking rainfall and hailstorms have badly affected the production of watermelon and melon in Charsadda, Nowshera, Swabi, Mardan, and DI Khan districts.

The official mentioned that the standing water in low-lying areas has slowed down the pace of growth of watermelon and melon in agriculture fields and started dying, forcing affected farmers to prematurely cultivate to avoid huge financial losses.

In the Chamkani fruit market, one kilogramme of mango was being sold at Rs 150-200, one kilogramme of watermelon at Rs 50-70, and one kilogramme of melon at Rs 80-100 per kg.

Malayar Khan, a progressive farmer from Mohib Banda Nowshera, said that he had cultivated melon and watermelon on five acres of land that had been badly affected by the last month’s torrential rains.

He said that farmers of watermelon and other seasonal vegetables and fruits suffered huge losses and demanded compensation.

The University of Swabi Assistant Professor of Economics and Agriculture Dr Muhammad Naeem said that watermelon, mango, banana, and melon orchards were highly vulnerable to climate change.

Dr Muhammad Naeem said that changes in rainfall patterns, glacier retreat, floods, higher average temperatures, and an increase in the frequency of droughts were having a severe impact on the nation’s agriculture and fruit yield.

He worried that food yields would likely decline in the next few years due to a combination of factors, including rapid glacier melting in high pasture zones, rising temperatures, and deforestation, in addition to flooding and excessive rains.

Dr Naeem informed that about 55.87 per cent of watermelon was produced in Punjab, 21.29 per cent in Baluchistan, 10.29 per cent in Sindh, and 11.84 per cent in KP, and its production is on the decline due to climate change and fluctuations in weather patterns.

Watermelon is sensitive to cold temperatures, and even a mild frost can severely damage the crop. With more than 1200 varieties growing in more than 96 countries, including Pakistan, melons and watermelons were largely dependent on fertile soil, and their production was impacted by glacier outbursts and extreme rainfall, Assistant Professor added.

He said that huge plantations could be used to combat soil erosion as well as climate change, deforestation, and global warming.

‘Plant for Pakistan’ initiative to combat climate change

10 billion trees afforestation project (10BTAP) Deputy Project Director Muhammad Ibrahim Khan stated that Pakistan is one of the ten nations most impacted by climate change and the only practical solution to mitigate its detrimental effects on people, wildlife, aquatic life, and agricultural products is large-scale plantation.

Muhammad Ibrahim further said that climate change is predicted to make heavy rains more frequent throughout the nation, particularly in KP which could impact agricultural crops by eroding soil and depleting soil nutrients.

The Deputy Project Director added that the water table is falling with each passing year due to excessive water waste by car wash facilities and glaciers melting. He also mentioned that heavy rains can increase agricultural runoff into oceans, lakes, and streams which can harm water quality and negatively impact wildlife and aquatic resources.

To counter climate change and deforestation, Ibrahim Khan stated that a billion-tree afforestation project was launched in 2014, under which around 1.20 billion saplings were planted in KP.

The project has increased KP’s forest-covered area to 26.6 per cent in 2018 against 20 per cent in 2013, thus surpassing the 25 per cent international forests standard for a country.