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ISLAMABAD, Sep 17 (APP):Widespread floods in Punjab Province have wreaked havoc on agriculture, devastating major and minor crops including cotton, rice, sugarcane, and maize, besides affecting other minor crops like sesame, fodder, and different vegetables across millions of acres of farmland.
The calamity has caused extensive damage to different crops, affecting an estimated 1.329 million acres of cultivated land, which accounts for 6.3 per cent of the province’s total cropped area of the province, said an official in the Ministry of National Food Security and Research.
Talking to APP here on Wednesday, he said that according to initial data compiled by the Crop Reporting Service of the Punjab Agriculture Department, out of the total cultivated area, about 6.3 per cent was damaged due to recent floods.
He said that the total cultivated area in Punjab during 2025 stood at 18.958 million acres, of which various crops, including cotton, sugarcane, rice, maize, sesame, fodder and vegetables suffered damage due to floods, adding that a large portion of livestock and other agricultural infrastructure were also damaged due to torrential rains and flash floods.
Among major crops, rice faced the heaviest blow in absolute terms with 654,000 acres submerged, representing 10.1 per cent of its total area sown. Fodder crops also suffered considerably, with damage recorded on 334,000 acres, or 7.2 per cent of the cultivated land, he remarked.
Maize (autumn) losses were estimated at 92,000 acres, translating into 6.4 per cent of its total sown area. Sesame crops were affected over 60,000 acres (5.4 per cent), while sugarcane suffered a loss of 106,000 acres (5 per cent), the official added.
Meanwhile, he said that the cotton witnessed damage on 55,000 acres, amounting to 1.7 per cent of the total area cultivated in the province, whereas vegetable crops experienced the highest proportional damage with 25.8 per cent of their sown area wiped out.
He said that the overall impact of the floods was significant, particularly for rice, fodder and vegetables, which together accounted for the bulk of losses, adding that the federal government in collaboration with the provincial governments and agriculture departments, were striving hard to expedite the efforts to revive and restore the land damaged due to floods.
He said that the government would also utilize all available resources to overcome the damage caused by flash floods in order to ensure food safety and security in the country.