Date & location: SAIDPUR, MUZAFFARABAD , PAKISTANI ADMINISTRATED KASHMIR – 11-14 April 2006.
Natural with Urdu and English speech.
Duration: 3'33''
Produced by: Jon Bjorgvinsson, Virginie Miranda.
Source: ICRC – Access all.

This report will be distributed free-to-air and rights free on Saturday 22 April 2006 on Eurovision News Exchange at 11.45 GMT .

For broadcast tapes and information on footage: Virginie Miranda, ICRC, Geneva,

SHOWS:

SAIDPUR, PAKISTANI PAKISTANI ADMINISTRATED KASHMIR (RECENT) (ICRC - ACCESS ALL)

1.VARIOUS OF AZIZ-UR-REHMAN, FARMER IN THE VILLAGE OF SAIDPUR PLOUGHING HIS
LAND WITH HIS OXEN
2.VARIOUS OF FARMER MOHAMMAD ZAMAN PLOUGHING HIS FIELD MANUALLY AS HIS
CHILDREN WATCH
3.(SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) MOHAMMAD ZAMAN, KASHMIR FARMER, SAYING:
"My land was lost, my house collapsed (in the disaster). My animals also perished, I don't have anything left."
4.CHILDREN SITTING OUTSIDE TENTS AND TEMPORARY SHELTERS
5.RAHMAN FEEDING HIS ANIMALS
6.WIDE OF RAHMAN'S DESTROYED FARM
7.(SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) AZIZ-UR-REHMAN, FARMER SAYING:
"I have lost many parts of my land, and the rest of it eroded in the landslides. All of our seeds also perished in the earthquake."

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS WAREHOUSE, PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN (RECENT) (ICRC - ACCESS ALL)

8.DAVID ROGER, ICRC PURCHASER ON THE PHONE WITH A SUPPLIER
9.(SOUNDBITE) (English) DAVID ROGER, ICRC PURCHASER
"The challenge actually was to meet both ICRC and Pakistani Government requirements. This means there are two requirements. First was about the seeds not to be genetically modified. This now we made sure and we know we are providing non-genetically modified seeds. And the second aspect was that we would provide seeds with a minimum guarantee percentage of germinations"(24'')

10.CLOSE-UPS ON GERMINATED MAIZE SEEDS, RESULTS OF TESTS SHOWED AN 80% RATE OF SUCCESSFUL GERMINATION. PAKISTANI GOVERNEMENT REQUIREMENT WAS A MINIMUM OF 70% GERMINATION RATE.

11.(SOUNDBITE) (English) DAVID ROGER, ICRC PURCHASER
"Why we are distributing seeds? It's just to help people to restart their agriculture, the people farmers in the area of Kashmir. It's very important to do it now because this is the time for planting so that's why as you can see we are in a kind of emergency so to prepare these individual kits. So people wil get them as early as possible"

12.PAKISTANI WORKERS PREPARING INDIVIDUAL KITS
13.CONVOI ARRIVING IN MUZZAFFARABAD AREA AFTER 11 HOURS TRIP
14.MAN BUILDING A HOUSE
15.MAN WITH SAW LOOKS ON AS HELICOPTER LANDS
16.MI-8 HELICOPTER OPERATING FOR THE ICRC OFFLOADS SEED BAGS
17.(SOUNDBITE) (English) MASSIMILIANO CARTURA, ICRC DELEGATE, SAYING:
"The majority of this people lost their animals and part of the tools they used to plough the land during the earthquake. We believe that giving them seeds, fertilizer and tools is not only an economical support to their lives but also a moral support, extremely important in this phase."

18.ZAMAN CLIMBING UP TO HIS FARM WITH BAG OF SEEDS ON HIS BACK
19.ZAMAN SOWING MAIZE SEEDS
20.WIDE OF REHMAN SOWING SEEDS IN HIS FIELD
21.REHMAN SPRINKLING SEEDS
22.SEEDS FALLING IN TURNED EARTH


STORY:

Its six months since Kashmir was devastated by a massive earthquake. As the snow melts, the survivors are trying to replant their ravaged land, but they face huge difficulties.

The earthquake caused massive destruction, including the loss of seeds, tools and the erosion of good farmland. The farmers of the Neelum and Jhelum valleys are struggling to get on their feet again.

Forty-five year old Aziz-ur-Rehman of Saidpur village in the Neelum valley lost his wife in the earthquake but he was fortunate enough to have his oxen saved when the tremor struck on the 8th of October last year.

But Mohammad Zaman, belonging to the same village, has to plough his small plot of land alone by hand because he lost his only son in the disaster.

"My land was lost, my house collapsed. My animals also perished, I don't have anything left," says the fifty-year-old, as his five daughters watch him from outside their tent.

Rehman and Zaman are two of 30,000 farmers who need to get seeds, fertilizers and farming tools from outside if they are to expect harvest in the autumn, before the next winter sets in.

"I have lost many parts of my land, and the rest of it eroded in the landslides. All of our seeds also perished in the earthquake," says Rehman.

Usually farmers in the Neelum and Jhelum Valley are self sufficient for maize seeds but since much of their stock was destroyed in the earthquake, the ICRC (The International Committee of the Red Cross) has stepped in with a massive shipment of seeds to the region by trucks and helicopters during the
short sowing period.

All together 748 tons of maize, 6.5 tons of vegetable seeds: onion, turnip, tomato, carrot, chilli and spinach seed, as well as 3,000 kg of ladyfinger seeds and 450 tons of fertilizer and 30000 toolkits for planting and harvesting are being distributed by the ICRC.

"The majority of these people lost their animals and part of the tools they used to plough the land during the earthquake," says ICRC delegate, Massimiliano Cartura.

"We believe that giving them seeds, fertilizer and tools is not only an economical support to their lives but also a moral support, extremely important in this phase," he added.

But logistics have not been the only difficulty. Other challenges for the ICRC agronomists and purchasers were to find the right seeds for this area situated at an altitude of between 1000 and 2500 meters and where no market for seeds exists, and meeting the ICRC standard of providing farmers with non-genetically modified seeds to respect their traditional agriculture system. There was also a need to test the seeds to meet the Pakistani Government standards to distribute seeds which had a germination rate of minimum 70%.

"The challenge actually was to meet both ICRC and Pakistani Government requirements. This means there are two requirements. First was about the seeds not to be genetically modified. This now we made sure and we know we are providing non-genetically modified seeds. ." explained David Roger , ICRC purchaser. "And the second aspect was that we would provide seeds with a minimum guarantee percentage of germinations" he added.
The results of laboratory analysis showed a percentage of 80% of successful germinations

After finding the right non-genetically modified seeds, suitable for the altitude and that met the germination standards, the operation for farmers of the Pakistan administrated Kashmir region has been launched.

Toolkits for 30 thousand farmers and over a thousand tons of seeds and fertilizer are now being brought into the area by helicopters or by 40 trucks where roads can be used to reach communities in the Neelum and Jhelum valleys in time for sowing. The distribution will last until end of April.


These new seeds bring hope for a new life for Rehman and other hard-hit farmers of the mountainous regions, with the little they have left, they are sowing their small pieces of land with a vigour reminiscent of the good times before disaster struck on a fateful Saturday morning last October.