The agriculture/horticulture sector is one of the major sources of income and employment in the district. The district's potential cultivated area is 85,316 hectares out of which only about 30 percent is presently cropped, due to inadequacy of surface irrigation and scanty rainfall. There is, however, scope of a substantial increase in arable land and cropping intensity through improvement in canal systems, exploitation of groundwater, and harnessing of flood water for irrigation.

The district has two cropping seasons: rabi and kharif. Rabi crops are sown in September/October and harvested in May/June. The period for kharif is June/July and September/October respectively. Major crops grown in rabi are wheat, vegetables, and fodder (mainly lucerne). In kharif season, the main crops are jowar, fruit and fodder.

Rabi is the major cropping season. During kharif season, cultivation is possible on a limited area, due to shortage of canal water. For instance, of the total cropped area during 1994-95, the Rabi season accounted for 75 percent; and the Kharif season for 25 percent; which more or less represents the average long-term situation.

Scarcity of water and communal mode of land management have led to the system of rotational cultivation. This system still holds strong in most parts of the district.

Self cultivation is the dominant mode. Its incidence is in fact on the rise, due to migration of tenants to urban centres, within and outside the district, to take up better paid jobs.

Use of agricultural machinery is increasing. Animals, however, still continue to be an important source of farm power. As far as manual labour is concerned, the farmer's household itself is the main source.

Both men and women participate in farming activities at different stages. Women's participation is quite prominent in livestock and poultry management, weeding, harvesting, and post-harvest operations. Women also undertake paid work on other people's farms at harvest time.

The district's total reported area (1994-95) is 160,000 hectares out of which 85,316 hectares are classified as "cultivated area" (Table 5.1.1). In 1994-95 as much as 70 percent of the latter was classified as fallow, while only 30 percent was reported as net sown. The high percentage of fallow land can be attributed to scarcity of water. Land use intensity is low, only 53 percent, while cropping intensity works out to a mere 30 percent for 1994-95.

Ownership of land is on individual basis. Cadastral maps are available, showing the demarcation of lands owned by land owners concerned.

Land is, however, managed on communal basis in most parts of the district. This is particularly the case in respect of lands in the command area of the canal. The community decides what part of the land is to be cropped in a particular year. Every year a new strip of land is cropped and normally a strip of land cropped once is not brought under the plough for the next four years, so as to allow it to recuperate fertility naturally.

The communal mode of land management has, however, been abandoned in Khajak and Nari areas, where plots of lands have been demarcated and assigned to the proprietors concerned, and the rotational system of cultivation has been abandoned. An individual farmer may himself decide what particular portion of his farm is to be left fallow.

Self-cultivation is the dominant mode of cultivation. According to the 1990 Census of Agriculture, this mode accounted for 59 percent of the farm area in the district in that year. The corresponding figures for land operated by tenants and owner-cum- tenants are 27 percent and 14 percent respectively.

Cultivation of land through tenants is declining gradually because of a number factors, the most important among them being the availability of more remunerative off-farm jobs in and outside the district. The land given up by a tenant is rarely rented out again by the owner, who finds it more economical to cultivate it himself or with the help of hired labour instead of renting it out again on a fifty percent share of produce basis.

All rented out lands are operated under share produce (batai) basis. The basis for sharing the cost and produce by owner and tenant vary with the mode of irrigation as described below.

Agricultural statistics are collected and published by the Department of Agriculture. Since the yearly statistics on crop area and yields are not based on scientific surveys on year to year basis, the margin of error could be large. In all probability, as gathered from discussion with informed persons, the area and production of wheat are overestimated a little, whereas statistics in respect of minor crops, especially the new crops, are underreported. The strong emerging tendency to grow high value crops such as sugarcane, pulses, fodder, vegetables and fruit is not fully reflected in the published agricultural statistics. However, in spite of these flaws, these statistics are broadly representative of the crop situation in that they approximately portray the dominant characteristics of the cropping pattern.

Aggregated data on area under the various crops show erratic developments over the period 1990-91 to 1994-95. The five year average was 21,118 hectares, ranging between 18,324 and 25,507 hectares, meaning that deviation from the mean was 8 to 17 percent. This trend is quite normal in the ecological setting of the district, which is characterized by limited canal irrigation facilities and low rainfall.

The trend in area under wheat crop, which accounts for the bulk of the total area under crops, was more or less the same, i.e. erratic, as observed above in respect of overall crop area trend; see table 5.1.2. In fact, this crop's area trend shapes the overall trend, for the simple reason that it accounts for over 72 percent of total cropped area. Rice, oilseed and fodder crops have been characterized by stagnation, while area under pulses fluctuated from year to year. Only fruits and vegetables have shown, on the whole, rising trend in respect of area. The official statistics given in table 5.1.2 are, however, believed to underreport the area under fruit and vegetables. As suggested by field reports, in recent years, area under these crops has increased substantially.

Wheat, vegetables and fodder crops account for the bulk of the area under rabi crops. In 1994-95, wheat accounted for 86 percent of rabi crops, while fodder and vegetables followed with 7 percent and 5 percent respectively. Among the kharif crops, the important ones are fruits, fodder and jowar. In 1994-95, fruit accounted for 29 percent, and jowar for 26 percent of the area under crops in kharif season. In the same year, vegetables, melons, and fodder (which are the only crops besides jowar and fruit, that are grown on more than five hundred hectares each) taken together accounted together for 1,652 hectares or 26 percent of the total kharif area. Crops grown in 1994-95 (rabi and kharif) and area claimed by each of them are given in Table 5.1.3 (see annex 5).

Source: Agriculture Statistics

Note:

Oil Seed = Rape Seed & Mustard, Sesame.

Pulses = Moong, Mash, Moth, Masoor

Fodder = Lucerne, Fodder of Jowar, Maize, Shaftal and others.

Fruits = Apple, Apricot, Grapes, Peach, plum, Pear, Louqat and others.

Vegetables = Tomatoes, Cabbage, Carrot, Cauliflower,

Lady finger, Pumpkin, Spinach etc.

Others = All other crops not shown above.

The total production of all crops, with the exception of pulses, was higher in 1994-95 as compared with 1990-91. Increase in crop area as well as in yield per hectare enabled that. But on the whole, the trend in area and yields was not strongly upwards for the greater part of the period 1990-95. In 1994-95, however, crops' area and production increased substantially compared to the previous year.

With the exception of two government run farms meant for research with a total area of 500 acres, all farms in the district are privately owned. Relevant aspects of organization of production in the private sector are taken up in this section. First, the mode of management.

There are three categories of farmers. These are owner operators, owner-cum-tenants and tenants. The owner operated farms accounted for 59 percent of total farm area in 1990, according to the Census of Agriculture conducted in that year.

Source: Pakistan census of Agriculture, 1990; Vol II part 4; Balochistan ; Table 1.2

As stated earlier in this chapter, the system of communal or joint management of land holdings is in practice in most parts of this district. The land records maintained by the Revenue Department show how much land in a given locality belongs to which individual member of the community concerned. A committee comprising elders of land owners decides what particular piece of land a particular person/household shall manage. A decision to this effect is made every year, and every year farming is shifted to a new plot, while the old plot is left fallow for four years to recuperate fertility. In other words, the rotational system of farming is practiced. The only exceptions are Khajak and Nari areas, where each owner’s land has been demarcated, and annual shifting is no longer done.

After a piece of land has been assigned to the owner concerned, it is for the owner to decide whether he wants to cultivate it personally or rent it out, and what crops are to be grown. The decision of the owner in this respect is, of course, governed by the factor of water availability and the fact that he can cultivate that land only for the period until the next rotation.

The farm household itself is the chief source of farm labour, which is supplemented by casual and communal labour, mainly at land preparation and harvesting time. Very few farms have permanent hired labour. The 1990 Census of Agriculture fixed their number on only 303 for the whole district. In so far as casual labour is concerned, only a few farms in the district reported using this in 1990. The current situation in this respect is still the same.

Agriculture is conducted mainly as a domestic enterprise. The household supplies almost all the labour and some inputs, and is also the major consumer of the farm's produce. Both men and women take part in farming. According to the 1990 Census of Agriculture, out of the total family workers doing farm work on part or full time basis in Sibi district, 23 percent were women. Among the full time farm workers, the representation of women was 14 percent, and among the part-timers it was 41 percent. It is interesting to note, that of the total women reported to be engaged in family farms, 42 percent worked on full time basis.

The 1990 Census of Agriculture seems to suffer from bias of under-enumeration of women's participation in farm activity. It is a widely known fact that women perform the bulk of the livestock maintenance work, and they heavily participate in several farm operations, especially at harvest and post harvest stages. According to the district's agricultural officers and informed persons, women's participation is regular and heavy in weeding, harvesting and post- harvest management of crops (assembling, cleaning, storage).The same applies to livestock management, where poultry keeping is entirely the domain of women.

Most farmers continue to use old agricultural practices for the way land is to be prepared for sowing, the method of sowing, input combination, and other crop production and crop protection practices. Use of agricultural machinery and improved inputs is, however, much more widespread than two or three decades ago and is on the rise. Tractors and threshers are in good demand. The percentage of farmers who use fertilisers is reported to be larger than before. Most farmers use improved seeds of wheat, sugarcane, fodder crops, and oilseeds. The use of improved inputs, machinery, etc., is higher in Khajak and Nari areas of Sibi and fruit growing areas of Harnai, as compared to other parts of the district. The level of use of improved inputs is, however, generally below the recommended one.

Tractors and bullocks co-exist, and complement each other. It is unlikely that tractors will entirely replace bullock, but the trend is definitely in favour of tractors. Thrashers have almost replaced the traditional mode of thrashing. They are more efficient and also more economical than bullock thrashing.

The percentage of farmers who use chemical fertilisers is rising, as stated above, but most farmers do not use the recommended doses. As reported in the 1990 Census of Agriculture, 49 percent of the farmers used chemical fertilisers in combination with farm yard manure and 15 percent used fertilisers only. Presently, the frequency of fertiliser use presently would be the same or a little higher than in 1990.

About 43 percent of the farmers used insecticides in 1990. The Agriculture Department's estimate is higher for present times. Increase in area under fruits and vegetables is expected to further increase the of use of this input, although the price factor is a serious obstacle in this respect.

For irrigation, the district depends on the Nari canal which accounts for about 90 percent of the district's irrigated area. Open and tube wells account for a small proportion of the irrigated area; only 4 percent in 1994 -95. Springs and other sources account for the rest of irrigated area; 6 percent in 1994-95. Springs are found in Harnai tehsil only.

There are no karezes in the district. In some places farmers directly draw water from streams and the river Nari using lift pumps. No estimate is available of the area irrigated through lift pumps, but it is believed to be small.

Source: Irrigation Department, Sibi District

Potential exists for a substantial increase in the area under surface irrigation. According to the Irrigation Department, 10,930 hectares of new lands can be brought under irrigation in the next 5-10 years. An area of 6,199 hectares has been surveyed and irrigation schemes have been prepared. These schemes are awaiting government's approval. A survey of the remaining area of 4,731 hectares, where irrigation schemes can be developed, has not been undertaken yet.

(Hectares)

Source: Irrigation Department, Sibi District.

The district has only one canal, the Nari canal. It is categorised as 'government canal' constructed, maintained and owned by the government. Water users are not required to pay for water or the canal's maintenance cost, but the Irrigation Department can, and does when the need arise, require them to participate in the canal's annual cleaning.

The water courses are communal property. They are collectively maintained by the water users. The government is not supposed to contribute to repair costs of the water courses, but it does if major repairs are involved. There is also governmental involvement in the irrigation systems improvement program. One of the activities carried out under this programme concerns the lining of water courses in order to prevent water losses. The government also has a programme for improvement of on-farm irrigation in the district.

Each water course is allocated water according to its command area. Water rights are allocated to the community. The water is then allocated to each farm in proportion to its share in the total command area. The allocation among farms is done by the community itself. Water rights are fixed in terms of hours of water supply. In local terminology it is called wakht bandi (time fixed for water supply). For each water course, there is a water draw schedule, showing the name of the water right holder, and the number of hours of water supply allocated to him. Water is drawn by farmers turn by turn in accordance with this schedule.

The Nari canal supplies 64 pao of water to its command area; a pao is equal to approximately 1.80 cubic feet per second. The shares of different localities / tribes / organisations are shown below.

1. Khajak 16.5

2. Dehpal & Dadi 7.0

3. Safi 8.0

4. Marghzani 7.0

5. Kuruk 7.0

6. Sibi Town 6.0

7. Luni 3.0

8. Bhakra 2.0

9. Kot Barozai 2.0

10. Forest department 1.5

11. Khudaidad Marghzani 1.0

12. Mosiani 1.0

13. Naudhani 1.0

14. Mandwani 1.0

Most farmers use tractors. Wheat thrashers are becoming popular too. Tractors are used for land preparation as well as haulage purposes. According to the Census of Agriculture, 1990, as many as 49 percent of the farmers in this district used only tractors, 23 percent used only draught animals, while 28 percent used tractors as well as draught animals for farming. Not much has changed since 1990, except that the percentage of tractor and thrasher users would be presently a little higher.

The use of tractors appears to be inversely correlated with the size of the farm. For instance, the 1990 Census of Agriculture found that as many as 75 percent of the farmers with less than one acre of farm-land used only tractors, while the corresponding figure is 49 percent for farmers with 150 acres or more. This can be explained by the high cost of maintenance of draught animals on small holdings, and relatively easier availability of tractors on rent. The rent is on hourly basis.

Input supply is managed entirely by the private sector. It is shared by businessmen operating regular shops, and individuals operating without shops, while farmers themselves produce part of certain inputs. The major sources of supply, as ascertained from the Department of Agriculture (Extension) Sibi, are given below in Table 5.1.10.

Source: Interviews with agriculture extension officers.

Agricultural/horticultural surpluses find their way to consumers through a variety of channels depending on the type of product.: cereals, vegetables and fruit.

Wheat is the principal cereal crop of the district. The wheat marketing channels are charted below.

Small farmers sell the bulk of their cereals within the village to the beopari (trader) coming to the village at harvest time from Sibi town. The other important outlets for them are the village shopkeepers. The beoparis mostly operate wholesale shops, or work for wholesale sellers, and mostly they contract advance sale of the crop in return for the loan facility extended by them to the farmers.

The relatively bigger farmers mostly sell their produce in the wholesale markets at Sibi and Harnai. They also sell part of their produce on farm to beopari, and directly on the Quetta market.

The marketing channels of vegetables are shorter as compared with cereals. The most commonly used channels are charted below.

In the vegetable wholesale markets at Sibi and Harnai, bulk sale of quickly perishable vegetables is usually done by auction, conducted by commission agents. Most growers have prior arrangements with commission agents for sale of their produce. Vegetables having relatively longer shelf life may not be necessarily put on auction the same day they reach the market. The relatively big farmers leave their produce with commission agents for disposal at a price not below the floor price set by the farmers themselves.

In the case of fruit the marketing channels are almost identical to the ones for vegetables, in case the orchard owners sell their fruit after picking it themselves. However, the most common practice is to sell the fruit at flowering stage to contractors who then become responsible for harvesting, transportation, etc.

Prices of agricultural produce of Sibi for 1991-95 or any single year, are not available on record. The prices in Quetta market are stated to be a good proxy for Sibi market prices, with about 10-15 percent downward adjustment.

No authentic data is available on level of income of the farm sector in the period 91-92 to 1994-95. Prices of all agriculture products have been rising continuously during that time, but the rise in the prices of agriculture inputs has been of a much higher order. Considering these facts, and also the fact that the prices of non-farm products have risen relatively more, the Agriculture Department's officers and informed persons are of the view that the farm sector's level of income, in real terms, has been stagnant or declining since 1991-92.

Sibi district, being also the divisional headquarters, has divisional as well as district level Agriculture Department officers who are responsible for agriculture extension, research, and on-farm water management. The departments and agencies are:

1. Agriculture Extension Department, Sibi division, headed by Deputy Director Of Agriculture (extension).

2. Department of Agriculture Extension, Sibi district, with offices at Sibi and Harnai each headed by an Extra Assistant Director of Agriculture (extension).

3. Agriculture Farm, Sibi.

4. Model Agriculture Farm, Sibi.

5. On farm water management project, headed by Extra Assistant Director of Agriculture.

6. Oilseed research project, headed by senior Oilseed, Botanist.

The last four establishments are directly controlled by the Director General, Agriculture Extension. While the EADAs (extension) at district level are supervised by the Deputy Director of Agriculture (extension), Sibi Division.

Chart

Agriculture. Farm, Sibi

OFWMP, Sibi

Model Agriculture Farm,

Oilseed Research

project, Sibi.

The four agricultural establishments on the right side of the organigramme are directly controlled by the Director General of Agriculture Extension, Balochistan, whose office is in Quetta. The Deputy Director Agriculture, Sibi division, controls the EADAs at Sibi and Harnai Tehsils, while the Agriculture Farm Sibi, is under EADA, Sibi. The two EADAs offices (at Sibi and Harnai) constitute the Agriculture Extension Department of Sibi district, but work independently. They have a total staff of 157.

The Agriculture Extension Department disseminates knowledge of improved inputs, agricultural practices, new crops, and crop protection measures as its normal functions. To this end, it follows a standard set of activities comprising laying the demonstration plots of improved varieties of wheat, vegetables, and other crops, pruning of fruit plants, establishing new orchards, conducting crop sprays with insecticides, rodent control and soil treatment. Main thrust of the extension program is towards promotion of improved varieties, and introduction of new high value crops. Major share is normally allocated to wheat (in rabi) and sorghum (in kharif). Though in smaller numbers, the Agriculture Extension Department also has demonstration plots of high yielding varieties of vegetables, sarsoon, sugarcane, pulses, sunflower, etc.

The Agriculture Extension Department has a fairly large number of extension workers, but the farming community does not consider their performance to be satisfactory. The Agriculture Extension Officers themselves admit that the extension services have not been able to make much impact on the agriculture sector. They blame this on insufficiency of funds for agriculture research, demonstration plots, travelling to the villages, holding farmers meetings (field days), etc. Hardly one or two percent of the Agriculture Extension Department's budget is allocated for carrying out extension work. Even this amount is allegedly not fully or properly utilised for the purpose it is meant for.

The Agriculture Farm, Sibi, controlled by EADA, Sibi District, was established in 1986. Its total area is 25 acres: orchard 18 acres, flower nursery 3 acres, fodder plots 1 acre, and roads cover 3 acres. The farm is irrigated by the Nari canal. The farm specializes in fruit and flower nurseries. The plants grown in the nursery are distributed among farmers in the district. A few fruit orchards have been developed in the Khajak area, near Sibi town. The nursery plants were supplied by the Agriculture Farm, but on the whole, the farm has not been able to make much impact in the area. The major bottleneck is the system of rotational cultivation. Rotational cultivation hinders development of orchards, as it takes at least five years before a fruit tree bears fruit. In Khajak area, where the rotational system has been given up, farmers have started planting fruit plants.

The oilseed project is headed by a Senior Oilseed Botanist. It is located at the Model Agriculture Farm where an area of 100 acres has been set aside for this project. Presently, research is concentrated on sunflowers. Because of the salinity and saline water problems, yield performance of the crops grown under this project is not satisfactory.

The total area of the Model Agricultural Farm IMAF) is 480 acres, out of which 100 acres have been given to the oilseed project. The farm grows wheat, sarsoon, sunflower, other crops, and fruits (dates, berries, citrus etc) using modern agricultural practices and improved inputs. It has four tube wells for irrigation. The tube well water is, however, saline and the soils are saline too. These two factors have rendered it impossible to achieve the model farm's objective of dissemination of model farming systems. In fact, presently the average farmer's crops yields are better than those of the model farm. Things can, however, drastically improve by providing canal water to the farm. Efforts are afoot to provide one pao canal water to the farm. Presently, the local farmers are opposing this, as they have a claim on the water proposed for the farm, In addition, they think that the farm will simply waste the water. If the farm does not get the required canal water, it will serve no useful purpose for crop production. Provision of canal water will, however, turn it into an effective medium of agriculture development in the area.

Government and private enterprises provide various services to the agricultural sector. The government's role consists of agriculture extension services, development, operation and management of irrigation systems, agriculture research, agriculture training etc. These are important areas of activity, but the government’s concerned Departments performance is reported to be not very satisfactory.

Private enterprises are also substantially involved with the provision of various services to the agriculture sector. They include input supply, price setting, credit, etc. Credit in the private sector is almost entirely a monopoly of the Hindu traders based in Sibi town.

The public and private sector agriculture services are allegedly not providing a fair deal to farmers. The public agencies are inefficient, and the private sector charge prohibitive prices.

Legend: - no involvement

X minor involvement

XX substantial involvement

XXX major involvement

On the whole, the agriculture sector is characterized by stagnation. No report worthy progress has been made in respect of increase in arable land; yields are low and the process of diversification in cropping pattern is slow.

The district has a full-fledged Agriculture Extension Department, but it has not been able to make visible positive impact on agriculture sector. It has achievements to its credit, but they fall far short of the farmers expectations and needs.

The major development issues in this sector are provision of more irrigation, activation of agriculture extension work on a larger scale, introduction of high yielding varieties, supply of improved inputs at low cost, improvement in marketing system, farmers training, etc. In short, the entire agriculture support services in public and private sectors need to be overhauled and mobilized with full thrust.

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