Fears of food shortages in flood-hit SAsian nations: UN

INDIA: Food shortages loom in South Asian nations hit by torrential rains, floods and landslides affecting more than 28 million people, 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 on its website.

“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 nation’s total rice production, preliminary reports indicate about one million hectares (2.47 million acres) of cereal land have been submerged in Bihar alone, the FAO said.

The statements came in the FAO’s latest update on the flood situation.

Meanwhile, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) expressed “deep concern” about the continuing threat from hunger, disease and malnutrition for millions of children and women affected by the flooding which has killed almost 2,800 people in the three countries and Pakistan.

New Delhi, Sunday, AFP