The agricultural sector - concentrating almost entirely on fruit production, is one of the major sources of income and employment in this district. It is estimated that in 1994-95 the gross value of agricultural production was Rs. 283,400/ hectare, the highest in Sibi division of which Ziarat is one of districts.

The district is almost a single crop region. Little or nothing is grown in Rabi season. In Kharif season, only fruit is produced. Barring a small area of not more than 200 hectares under wheat, fodder, and vegetables, almost the entire cropped area of the district was accounted for by fruit during 1990-95. The fruits grown are apple, almond, apricot, peaches, plum, pear, pomegranate, cherry etc. Apple is the most important fruit.

 Classification of Land

The district's total geographical area is 95,362 hectares (see remarks in paragraph 1.1). Land use statistics are available for 65,976 hectares (being the total reported area). Cultivated area of the district is 12,065 hectares, (Table 5.1.1). The cultivated area accounts for 12.65% of the district's total area. Cropped (net sown) area is only 3.55% of the latter. Forest covers 54% area.

The total area measured by the revenue department was 9,627 hectares. The land use classification of this area is shown in the table. The statistics of the revenue department and those of agriculture department are, however, not consistent. The analysis of the agriculture sector is based on agriculture department's statistics.

The last land settlement (in terms of ownership of the district's land) can be classified into i) state land and ii) private land. All private holdings have been measured and cadastral maps are available. Proper records are maintained by the revenue department showing the names of the owners and the land parcel owned by them. The system of individual proprietary holding is in practice.

Fruits are the major crop of the district. Orchard owners lease their orchards out for cash to contractors when the fruit trees are in the flowering stage. The contractors are responsible for all subsequent operations including packing, transportation and sale of the fruit.

Agricultural statistics are collected, compiled and published by the statistics wing of the Directorate General of the Agriculture Department of the Government of Balochistan. The data is collected by the statistical staff in the district, and compiled at the Quetta headquarters. Considerable scepticism is found regarding the accuracy of the data.

The crop area, especially of fruit and vegetables, is said (by district officers) to be under reported. Similarly, production statistics are thought to be based on rough estimates rather than scientific surveys.

 Area, total production, and average yield of the crops are given in the annex 6 for the years 1990-91 to 1994-95. It will be seen in the table that practically the entire cropped area was under fruits. The other crops are wheat, potato, fodder, etc, but they occupied only a fraction of the total area under crops.

There is not much to report about the cropping pattern in this district. As reported above, all but a fraction of the total cropped area is under fruit. Among the fruits, apple dominates. In 1994-95 out of the total of 3,369 ha of fruit trees, apple accounted for 2,403 ha (71%). The remaining 29% were accounted for by almond, cherry, apricot, peaches, plum, pomegranate and peas.

The district produced 37,135 tonnes of fruit and other crops annually on average during 1990-95. Apple accounted for the bulk of this output.

Farming is almost entirely a private enterprise and is managed at household level. In the 1990 census of Agriculture only a small percentage were Governments farms.

Both family members and hired workers participate in farming. Use of hired labour is more extensive in this district as compared with the neighbouring Sibi district. In so far as family workers are concerned, they include both men and women.

The entire cereal and vegetable production is consumed locally. The district‘s surplus is in fruit production which finds its way mostly to markets in other provinces besides Quetta city.

Almost the entire cultivated area is irrigated. The sources of irrigation are open wells, tube wells, karezes / springs and small dams. The area irrigated by these sources is given for the years 1990-1995 in annex 6. The data for 1994-95 (for the area under crops) is given in the table below.

Accurate recent data on the number of tractors is not available. According to the 1994-95 agricultural statistics 327 tractors were registered in the district, of which 6 were government owned. Only 3 threshers were registered, all of them privately owned. In the same year; 1,091 tube wells were reported, almost all of them privately owned and diesel operated. In general it can be concluded that the use of the agricultural machinery has increased over the years.

All agricultural inputs - seed, fertilizers, insecticides, etc., are supplied by the private sector. Farmers buy these mostly locally and also obtain parts or supplies, if the need arises, from Quetta city. In 1994-95 88.20 tonnes of chemical fertilizer was used in the district.

A marketable surplus is produced only in the case of fruit, and this is substantial. The dominant practice, as also stated before, is to lease out the orchard to contractors at the flowering stage. The price is paid in full when the orchard is leased out. The lease is mostly for one season.

After the orchard is leased out it is managed by the contractor until the lease is over. The contractor looks after the fruit plants, arranges for picking, grading, packing, transportation and all subsequent marketing operations.

In the case of diffused (scattered) fruit plants, the farmers themselves manage picking and packing. The fruit is sold to Beopari (contractors) visiting the village. The Beopari arrange transport and further marketing operations.

Data on whole sale and retail prices of fruits; the major crop of the district, is not available. Prices are determined by the market.

No authentic information is available on levels of agricultural income over time. Considering, however, the fact that the total production of fruit (which is all that the agriculture sector produces in this district) has been increasing continuously during 1990-95 and also as fruit prices have maintained a steady rise during this period, the per hectare gross as well as net revenue (and income) must be rising too.

The following offices of the Department of Agriculture exist in Ziarat district.

1. Extra Assistant Director of Agriculture (Extension)

2. Extra Assistant Director of On-Farm Water Management.

3. Assistant Director, Fruit Development Experimental Station

4. Agricultural Officer, Trickle Irrigation.

These are all full fledged offices for carrying out agriculture extension and research activities in the district. Information available on actual performance of these agencies is too meagre to warrant objective statements. However, as gathered from interviews with local people and some government officials, their (agriculture departments officers) performance is not very satisfactory. The farmer-extension worker contact is low, the number of crop demonstration plots is small and their type is not in line with the area's ecology. The horticulture research station's performance is poor, its researches are just of routine type and not well managed. Lack of funds and appropriate staff besides the problem of discipline are stated to be the main explanation of this state of affairs. The local farmers have, therefore, to resort to other sources of agriculture information, among which the important ones are chemical manufacturing companies and fellow farmers.

Farming is an entirely private enterprise in which the farmer and his household members are the main actors. Various GO/NGO and private enterprises, however, provide agriculture support services. The services provided by them and the extent of their involvement are shown below.

The agricultural sector is nearly a single crop sector: the area under cultivation is almost entirely producing fruits, with a dominating position for apples (71%). The remaining production (cereals, vegetables) is consumed locally. In case of fruits there is of course a marketable surplus. The fruit is sold to contractors that visit the villages. The income of the farmers in Ziarat could probably be increased by bypassing or at least reviewing the role of these contractors.

An issue is the role of the Department of Agriculture, in particular the extension provided by that Department. According to experts the fruit production can be increased substantially without further increasing the area under cultivation and without higher water requirements. More modern cultivation methods, an efficient use of irrigation water and use of improved seeds would be important steps forward. The introduction of such improvements

requires a skilled and well organized extension service which is trusted by the growers. Here lies a challenge for the Department of Agriculture.

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