Qamar uz-ZamanUpdated 16 Dec, 2020 12:53pm
Life was not as hard two years ago as it is today for Tariq Mahmood, a 39-year-old taxi driver in Islamabad. He works seven days a week for 12 hours a day but rarely has more than a few hundred rupees left after feeding his family.
Mahmood said he has not felt this dejected by his dwindling finances in the past 14 years. For cab drivers like him the real culprit is not Covid-19, which shut down businesses, or the advent of ride-sharing services, which siphoned off customers, but spiralling food prices.
“I cannot afford the education of my child after paying for food for the family,” Mahmood told
Farmers suffer big losses as guava output drops
Mealybug infestation in Larkana district slashes production of fruit by 60%
PPI
December 13, 2020
LARKANA:
The output of guava orchids has been severely affected by mealybug insects due to which growers are suffering losses amounting to 60-70% in and around Larkana district, said Sindh Chamber of Agriculture President Sirajul Oliya Rashdi.
“Pesticides used for killing other insects are being used by the growers to eliminate diseases but there is still no remedy to combat the mealybug, which has slashed production of seasonal guava fruit by 60% causing losses to the peasants,” he said on Saturday.