Agriculturally the Nasirabad district is one of the most developed districts in Balochistan. The area, which is fed by Pat Feeder canal (known as Command Area) is irrigated for the most part, and is productive from an agricultural point of view. The major crops grown in the canal fed area are rice, wheat, oil seed, pulses and cotton. The horticulture sector is less developed, but it is improving. Promotion of orchards (citrus, mango, guava) will improve the horticulture sector.

Chattar sub-division, which lacks irrigation water, is less developed agriculturally. The major crops grown here are wheat, fodder, and oil seeds. Chattar depends on rainfall and in years with enough rain, the area can give good production.

The largest crop market for the area is Jacobabad.

The total land of the district is 338,717 Ha. Sixty and a half percent of the area, 205,000 Ha. is the area reported. The land actually under cultivation is 182,890 Ha, which includes Khariff, Rabi and horticultural cultivation; 7,445 Ha is cultivable waste. Not available for cultivation is 14,665 Ha. See also paragraph 1.1.

The area is controlled by "Zamindari" (landlords). They are big landlords. The size of land they own individually may be small, as it is divided amongst his family members and tenants to cover himself against land reforms, nonetheless, his hold over the land is supreme. The lands owned by landlords is cultivated by tenants. These tenants do not have the choice but to grow crops as decided by the owner. There are two kinds of tenants: seasonal and permanent. The role of permanent tenants in agricultural matters is more important than the role of the seasonal ones. The number of permanent tenants is bigger than the number of seasonal tenants in Nasirabad district.

The cropping pattern is different depending on the seasons: Khariff and Rabi. Major crops include rice, wheat (dobori), fodder, vegetables, fruits, pulses and oil seeds. Kharif season lasts from 15th May to 30 September and Rabi season is from 1 October to 31 March. In canal fed area, farmers cultivate rice on all their plots in Kharif season, though they are encouraged to grow rice only on 25% of their land. Some farmers also grow a little millet, sorghum, pulses and oil seed. Because of the water logging problems as a result of this large-scale growing of rice, government is making an effort to reduce the cultivation of rice in favour of cotton. The cultivation of cotton is expanding year by year. It was 2,792 tons in the year 1994-95. It rose to 3,550 tons in 1995-96, and is expected to grow more in the coming years.

The two dominant systems are single crop and fallow system. The single crop system includes rice, wheat, pulse and fodder. The fallow up system is not very common in the canal and rain fed area of the district. On average about 20 percent of the cultivable land is left fallow every year.

Nasirabad is one of the main wheat and rice producing districts in Balochistan. The average yield of wheat is 2,670 kg per Ha.. Although Nasirabad is a major rice producing district, its average yield of 1,807 kg. per Ha. is not satisfactory as yet.

The landlords control the land. A landlord has a number of tenants who are supported by tillers. Some of the permanent tenants have some influence in decision-making on production and farming.

The agricultural and horticultural farming system is traditional, nonetheless, the use of machinery is growing.

The major sources for irrigation in the district are Pat Feeder canal, Khirther and Uch canal. The Pat feeder canal irrigation system was constructed as part of the Guddu Barrage project by WAPDA and came into operation in 1969. The canal has a capacity of 90 cumecs (3,178 cusees) at its point of entry into Balochistan. At present it commands a cultivable area of about 191.000 Ha.. Its length is 166 km. Khirther canal branches from N.W. Canal. The Sukkar barrage was originally constructed in 1932 with a capacity of 1,164 cusecs for irrigation of 134,500 Ha. in Sindh and Balochistan.

The use of agricultural mechanization in Nasirabad district has grown. The machines most used are tractors, threshers, combined and adjustable harvesters, and seeds and fertilizer machines. Some of the landowners have sowing machines and spray machines with hand pumps. The number of privately owned tractors in the district is around one thousand.

The most required agricultural input is fertilizer. Various kinds of fertilizers are used: Urea and D.A.P, Potassium, S.O.P., S.S.P and N.P.K. They are bought from the Agricultural Department or from the private sector. In the private sector, fertilizers are supplied by middle man. The use of chemical fertilizer was 96 tons in 1995. The area irrigated by canal water requires a lot of fertilizer.

The major input for horticultural is root stock, which is available at expensive rates from Punjab and Sindh. Plants like citrus, guava and mango are smudged in winter, to protect them from dew. The use of fertilizers is common in horticulture.

Marketing is in the hands of private enterprise. The involvement of government in marketing is still minor, however, its role is growing. The Agricultural Marketing Regulation Act 1991, which is designed to reduce the middle men’s role and to fix the commodities’ prices, is in function since June 1996, but the system is not fully operative. Middle men play an important role, because the producers themselves have only little commercial and marketing knowledge. They find it easier to sell their crops to middle men or take them to Jacobabad and Sukkar, two nearby big grain markets.

Price control is in the hands of the middle men, known as "dalal" or commission agents. They are professionals in the art of settling prices between growers and buyers. The role of middle men, however, is limited in Nasirabad urban areas, because of the existence of a Market Committee. But still, due to the non-availability of funds for the producers and their poor financial position in the last months before harvesting, many of them sell the crops early on loans from commission agents.

No statistics exist on the levels of income. However, if the agricultural production is taken at average whole sale prices of Quetta, than the agricultural value per capita is about Rs. 10,900 per year on basis of the 1994-1995 agricultural production figures.

At the district level, the Department of Agriculture comes under the Deputy Director, who is responsible for the whole divisional agricultural sector. There are one Extra-Assistant Director, three Agricultural Officers, 43 Field Assistants, and two Statistical Officers. The Pat Feeder Command area has its own staff.

The Department of Agricultural extension service in each district is headed by an Extra-Assistant or Assistant Director. The role of agricultural extension has increased in Nasirabad district, as the excessive growth of rice has damaged the land, and promotion of other crops, particularly cotton, is badly needed. However, the cultivation of cotton is handicapped by the non-availability of a nearby cotton market or textile mill. Farmers in Tamboo and D.M. Jamali sub-divisions used to grow sugar cane as an agricultural extension. However, as there is no sugar mill nearby, sugar cane cultivation has been abandoned. It is said that, if there were a sugar mill in Nasirabad district, farmers would shift to sugar cane instead of rice. In the past, huge funds made available for a sugar mill. Construction was started but never finished due to shortage of funds. The pillars can still be seen a few kilometres from D. M. Jamali city towards Dera Allah Yar.

A major part of the area is irrigated through canal water. However, Chattar sub-division has a shortage of drinking water and water for agriculture. Up-lift canals are needed to meet Chattar’s demand for irrigation water.

The area of Tamboo and D.M.Jamali sub-division are faced with the problem of water logging and salinity. The promotion of cotton and sugar-cane cultivation may contribute to the recovery of the lands ruined by excessive rice cultivation. However, lack of facilities to process these crops makes it unattractive for farmers to grow cotton or sugar-cane.

The Pat feeder canal project will increase the annual aggregate cropping intensity to 96%. In addition, it will increase a more equitable distribution of water. The project was to be completed by December 1996. The objectives of the project are to create new employment opportunities for the people and increase of income through an integrated approach for development by means of irrigation, drainage, road infrastructure and on farm improvements, so that constraints on agriculture in the project area will be removed.

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