‘Tomato has vanished’: Floods devastate Sindh crops, threatening Pakistan’s food supply
BADIN: The sight of arrays of withered tomato plants comes into view as soon as one arrives at a 50-acre farm in Sindh’s Badin district in southern Pakistan.
One farmer, Najma Habibullah, said will be forced to switch to more climate-resilient crops next season. Like other tomato farmers in Badin, she rues the effects of heavy monsoon rains that have damaged all the tomato crops her family cultivated this season.
According to the Sindh Rural Support Organization (SRSO), farmers in Badin grew about 15,000 acres of tomatoes between June 15 and Augyst 15 this year, of which 70 to 80 percent have been destroyed by rains and floods.
The devastation comes as Pakistan reels from monsoon flooding since June 26 that has killed 998 people nationwide, inundated 4,700 villages in Punjab and washed away crops and homes across the agricultural heartland. Alongside high river flows, Badin itself received 200 millimeters of rain this season — double its average — compounding the damage to vegetable crops.
“The normal rainfall remains limited to 100 (millimeters) which, if crossed, brings vulnerability,” SRSO District Manager Ahmed Khan Soomro said.
“The vegetable crop has been damaged very much, especially tomato. Tomato has vanished.”
The State Bank of Pakistan has warned the floods are expected to weigh heavily on inflation and economic growth through June next year. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his cabinet have declared an “agricultural emergency” in response, while President Asif Ali Zardari has directed urgent measures to safeguard food security and promote climate-resilient farming.
On the ground, farmers say their livelihoods have collapsed. Habibullah, who cultivates a landlord’s 50-acre plot her family has worked on for years, pointed to fields strewn with withered plants.
“I live in this village,” she told Arab News. “All our tomato and other crops have perished because of rains.”
She said her family had spent Rs80,000 ($284) per acre on the crop.
“We won’t get flour and other stuff that the landlord gives us anymore,” she lamented. “We will have to do a lot of labor to meet our expenses.”
Myesha Sohail, an analyst at Topline Securities Ltd., said flood-related crop damage could push consumer prices up by as much as seven percent in September, the highest monthly inflation in 26 months.
Tomatoes top the list of key contributors to inflation with a 122 percent surge in prices, followed by wheat, wheat flour, onions, potatoes, rice, chicken, eggs, and sugar, which rose by as much as 49 percent, she said in a research note on Wednesday.
“The resurgence in food inflation is primarily on the back of supply side effect on food products due to ongoing floods in the country, ” Sohail said.
“VULNERABILITY”
While the Provincial Disaster Management Authority has calculated Sindh’s crop losses at 350 acres of sugarcane, rice and maize, the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) said tomato damage alone stretched across multiple districts, including Badin, Thatta, Sajawal, Mirpurkhas, Umer Kot and Tando Muhammad Khan.
“The tomato losses in all these districts are 60 to 70 percent,” said Wafa Lateef Jokhio, general secretary of the SCA’s Badin chapter.
“Not only ketchup companies, but this tomato crop will not even fulfil the requirement of our household consumers,” he said.
The SCA official expressed disappointment with the Sindh government, urging it to “think about climate change.”
“It should improve the canal, drainage system and specially activate its agriculture department to create awareness among the people,” he added.
Tomatoes are a staple in Pakistani households and vital for food processors. Multinationals such as ITT Foods (Private) Limited, National Foods Limited (NFL) and Shangrila Foods use large quantities to manufacture ketchups and sauces.
“There is a major impact to our business because we predominantly operate on tomato, chilly, and sugar,” said Syed Zeeshan Haider, chief executive officer at ITT Foods. “These are being majorly hit by the floods, affecting our supply chain in the process.”
ITT supplies sausages and other processed foods to international markets. Haider said the firm’s teams were working to safeguard farmers as well as supply chains in Umer Kot, Kunri and Badin districts.
NFL has noted on its website that Pakistan already spends about $10 million annually importing tomato paste to bridge shortfalls.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Business Forum (PBF) has written to Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb urging a relief package, calling the situation a “national emergency.” In a September 9 letter, the group proposed a guaranteed wheat support price, temporary electricity bill waivers, interest-free loans and fertilizer subsidies to help farmers recover.
“The proposed measures are not merely compensatory — they are essential for triggering a revival of agricultural productivity and restoring confidence among farming communities,” PBF President Khawaja Mehboob ur Rehman said in the letter.
But for farmers in Badin, recovery feels far off.
Noor Muhammad from Badin’s Valieri village said heavy rains had destroyed 10 acres of his tomato crop. He estimated his family suffered losses of Rs200,000 ($710) per acre this season, leaving him unsure if he could sow again.
“How would we feed our children if we will already be under debt while growing the next crop,” he asked. “The landlord will ask for his money.”