Agriculture has not been a major economic sector in Kohlu as the majority of the population was not permanently settled at any place. Rather they were used to migrate from one place to the other in search of pasture lands. Wherever water was available for irrigation and agriculture was feasible, they were to cultivate some crops. With the advent of tubewells people diverted their attention to agriculture. Still only 3.4 percent of the total geographical area constitute arable land. The arable land had increased from 22,946 hectare in 1989-90 to 26,051 hectare in 1994-95.

In Kohlu agricultural crops are categorised in two types, Rabi and Kharif, according to their cultivation seasons. Rabi crops are sown in winter and harvested in late winter or during early summer. Kharif crops are sown in summer and harvested in late summer or early winter. Rabi crops of the district include wheat, barley and masoor. Kharif crops in Kohlu include chillies, maize, jowar, bajra, melons, potato, onion, coriander, garlic, cotton and pulses including mash, moong and moth. Vegetables and fodder are cultivated throughout the year. Fruits are produced in Kharif season only and include almond, apple, grapes, pomegranate, apricot, peach, plum, citrus, mangoes and others.

Agricultural labour is predominantly done by men. However, women often assist. In most cases, all farming activities are done by the land owner and his family members themselves. However, a few big land owners hire tenants for farming.

In Kohlu, agricultural land can be classified into irrigated and un-irrigated. Irrigated land has permanent sources of water like tubewells, open surface wells, karezes, springs and lohras (flood water channels). Un-irrigated land in Kohlu district is either rain-fed, locally called khushkava, or flood irrigated (sailaba). About half of the irrigated land is used for production of fruits, however some crops, like wheat, are also cultivated in orchards. Crops like wheat, jowar, barley, bajra, mash, moong, melons and some fodder are cultivated in both irrigated as well as un-irrigated lands while chillies, vegetables, potato, maize, moth, onion, coriander, garlic, cotton and some fodder are cultivated on irrigated lands only. Masoor is cultivated on un-irrigated land only.

According to the 1990 Census of Agriculture, less than half (43.0%) of the land-holdings was sized below 5 hectares. Only 6.4 percent of the farms were larger than 20 hectares while about half (50.6%) of the land holdings were sized between 5 and 20 hectares. The total farm area was 95,676 hectares while the cultivated area was 74,472 hectares. These data indicate a probability of self-farming for most of the farmers. However, these data are contradictory to the figures provided by the Agricultural Statistics of Balochistan 1989-90 and 1990-91, according to which the total arable land was 22,946 and 23,587 hectares respectively.

Tenancy is not common, as the farms are small and most of the farmers work their fields themselves. Very few large land owners employ tenants. Tenancy contracts are not formal and based upon oral understanding, which is considered sufficient by both parties. The share of the tenant varies according to crop and land. Usually it ranges from one-fourth (¼) to half (½) of the total yield, while in most cases all the inputs are provided by the landowner.

According to the set procedure, agricultural statistics are collected primarily by a Field Assistant posted in every union council. An Agriculture Officer at district level is responsible to compile district data and send it to the Statistics Wing of the Agriculture Department through the Assistant Director of Agriculture Extension. The Statistics Wing of the Directorate General of the Agriculture Department compiles and publishes this data in the form of Agriculture Statistics of Balochistan, every year. Despite the fact that the data are collected at union council level, the report present an aggregated data which does not help to draw any conclusion on micro level. As there is variety in geological as well as geographical features even within the district, it is imperative to have data on, at least, union council level.

The data provided by the Agricultural Statistics of Balochistan for the last 6 years (1989-95) seem consistent but figures directly provided by the Extra Assistant Director, Agriculture (Extension), Kohlu for 1994-95 are not compatible with those of provided by the Agricultural Statistics of Balochistan (see above table). Similarly figures about irrigation sources provided by these two sources are also discrepant (see table in paragraph 5.1.8). These discrepancies indicate that the agricultural data available through the government sources urgently need to be reconciled.

For Kohlu, reliable land use statistics are not available. The arable land is reported to constitute only 3.4 percent of the total geographical area, out of which about two-third (65.6%) has been left fallow. The local sources contradict these statistics. For example, it was told that in 1996-97 cotton has been cultivated on about 400 hectares of which about 350 tonnes yield is expected.

Regarding the area under cultivation, wheat is the major agricultural product of Kohlu, being cultivated on 63 percent of the total cropped area. It is cultivated in irrigated as well as un-irrigated areas. However, commercially it is not a valuable crop. According to a rough calculation, about half of total income comes from almonds (27.8%) and tomatoes (23.0%) while the third important crop is water melons (11.2%). Fodder is second most cultivated crop but of relatively low economic value. The economic value of fruits per hectare of cultivated land (Rs. 288,435/Ha.) is far greater as compared to the value of whole production, i.e. rupees 66,224 per hectare (see Annex 6 for details). Hence it may be economically beneficial for the farmers to develop more orchards.

The Agricultural Statistics of Balochistan indicate that the total agricultural and horticultural production and its average yield has increased gradually over the period 1989-95 (see Annex 6 for detailed statistics). The major shift in total production has been observed in fruits, vegetables, wheat, onion, garlic and fodder while the average yield has significantly improved in wheat, vegetables, garlic, onion, water melons, jowar, barley and pulses. However a significant shift in average yield of fruits was observed in 1994-95.

Men are the visible agricultural workers in Kohlu. Females take part in agriculture related activities within the house. For example storage of grains and cotton picking is done by the women. Similarly, women prepare manure fertiliser from dung of the livestock they graze. Most of the land owners themselves till the land and tenants are hired by big land holder only. Although mechanisation, like use of tractors and threshers, is increasing, still most of the farming is performed through indigenous methods, e.g. bullocks are used for ploughing and grains are threshed manually.

According to the Agricultural Statistics 1994-95, the major source of irrigation in Kohlu is tubewells, mostly operated by diesel engines. Other significant sources are karezes, springs and open surface wells. However, the statistics provided by the Extra Assistant Director, Agriculture (Extension), Kohlu contradict these data (see table below).

According to local sources, the number of tubewells are increasing rapidly and there may be about 2,000 tubewells and open surface wells with a diesel or electric pump. Even according to the official sources, total number of tubewells has increased from 97 to 164 over a period of six years (1989-95) and open surface wells have increased from 38 to 90. A very small proportion of land is irrigated with karezes as the old karezes have been dried up. Most of the arable land is khushkaba or sailaba land depending upon rainfall. In flood irrigation, rain-water is collected in the fields by embanking them. This provides enough water for cultivation of crops like wheat, barley and masoor.

The government has assisted water management in collaboration with the Japanese government and the World Bank under the On Farm Water Management Project (88% share by the foreign donors and 12% by GoB). The project has constructed 6 lined water channels, to avoid wastage of water during irrigation, and 12 water tanks for collection of water. The project funded all the construction costs for water tanks; farmers were asked to share 25 percent of the total cost for water channels while the remaining (75%) was paid by the project. The farmers were given the opportunity to pay their share in instalments (40% advance, 60% in instalments).The project has completed its third phase in December 1996. The first and second phases of the project were not implemented in Kohlu district.

Agricultural machinery used in the district includes tractors, threshers and tubewells. There has been a consistent increase in the number of privately owned agricultural machines, but it is not documented adequately, especially the tubewells. The Agricultural Engineering Directorate provides bulldozers at the rate of rupees 300 per hour for levelling of agricultural lands and construction of embankments.

The use of fertilisers in Kohlu district has been minimal, except in 1994-95 when 84.5 tonnes of DAP fertiliser was used. Similarly, the use of pesticides has also been limited. Ground spray is done on orchards while rodent control has reduced over the years (see Annex 6 for details). However these data might be under-estimated as it is common with the government statistics. Livestock’s manure is also used as fertiliser by many farmers. Mostly the seed and pesticides are sold privately. The Department of Agriculture provides pesticides on a limited scale while seed is not obtained from the Department as it costs more if bought from the Department’s store.

Most of the agricultural produce is consumed locally, however fruits, tomato and cotton are exported to neighbouring districts and a considerable amount of money is earned by this export. The non-availability of roads is a major hindrance in proper marketing of agricultural produce.

The prices of agricultural products cannot be fixed, as they change with the quantity of the product supplied to the market. Official rates are totally invalid in Kohlu. Grain crops just meet the local needs, therefore, organisations like PASCO are not active in the district.

As most of the agricultural produce is used domestically at local level, agriculture is not a significant source of monetary income. However, agriculture fulfils part of the nutritional needs. According to an estimate, annual per capita value of the agricultural produce in 1994-95 was rupees 5,655. This income can support the population to some extent, however it may not be sufficient to live a comfortable life.

Fruits earns the major part of agricultural income followed by tomatoes. Almonds and tomato give, according to a rough estimate, about half of the income from agricultural activities. According to local sources, cotton is also a cash crop in Kohlu. Thus it may be assumed that growing orchards, tomatoes and cotton can bring change in the economic status of the population. However, all these cash crops can only be cultivated on irrigated land, so the irrigation sources have to be developed, if ground water is available, to raise the income level of the farmers.

The Department of Agriculture (Extension Service) is providing assistance to farmers through dissemination of technical know-how and of information regarding agriculture/horticulture. The task of data collection and onward transmission by the Department at the district level needs some improvement. There seems to be very little co-ordination between research activities by the federal government and the knowledge dissemination process by the provincial government through the Department of Agriculture. The Department also sells pesticides and insecticides to the farmers. The Extension wing of the Department is headed by an Extra Assistant Director at Kohlu with a total strength of 91 employees. The On Farm Water Management Project is also headed by an Extra Assistant Director at Kohlu with a total strength of 15 employees.

The Balochistan government and private sector are the main partners providing support to the agricultural sector. Federal government is also involved in agricultural development while the Japanese government and the World Bank have provided financial assistance for the On Farm Water Management Project, executed by the Department of Agriculture.

In Kohlu, the people are diverting their interest to agriculture. New varieties of cotton are being sown as it is a cash crop. The per capita income level can be raised further by adopting innovative farming. Almost all the cash crops need irrigated land thus the irrigation sources need to be developed. There is also a need for human resource mobilisation though media campaigns and a participatory approach, so that the area under cultivation can be increased. The production of fruits, tomato and cotton can be organised to give more yield and more income to the farmers, if the government would provide incentives and technical inputs. Women despite being allied workers are not visible and have no economic independence.