LAHORE, Dec 19: The Soil Survey of Pakistan, an attached department of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, has proposed the preparation of a national agricultural land use plan to provide a scientific basis for selection of the most promising, sustainable and cost effective use of various types of agricultural land in the country.

The plan, expected to be completed in about five years and a half, at an estimated cost of Rs200 million, has been proposed as a follow up of the preparation of the national land resource inventory. Under the Government of Pakistan Rules of Business, 1973, the SSP is expected to check the general misuse and mismanagement of the agricultural land resources of the country.

The SSP experts believe that the general misuse and mismanagement of the agricultural land resources — soil and water — is the single most important factor responsible for continued degradation of land and stagnation of crop yields at low levels. Use of land resources does not have a scientific basis. It is also not adapted to the potential of the land and its conservation requirements. Generally, local trends and the farmers’ perceptions of their needs are the determining factors.

Most of the projects related to the development of agriculture in the country, the experts say, are prepared either without much regard to the land resource data or rely on sub-standard data generated by some agencies to suit their specific interests.

For this reason, the execution of the projects has seldom led to the realization of the envisaged benefits. It has also contributed to further degradation of land resources. Preparation of an unbiased national plan to rationalize land use and guide the government in objective planning and formulation of the agricultural development projects based on the potential and requirements of the land resources is, therefore, absolutely necessary.

The project envisages completion of the soil survey of the remaining 11.524 million hectares (13 per cent of the total area of the country). The area comprises 4,252 million hectares in Balochistan, 2,639 million hectares in Sindh, 1,035 million hectares in the North West Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and 3,598 million hectares in the Federally Administered Northern Areas. Reconnaissance surveys over three years are proposed to achieve the objective.

This will be followed by updating of the land resource inventory as significant changes have occurred in soil and hydrological conditions since the first soil survey started in mid-1960’s as a result of land development, changes in land use patterns, land mismanagement, malfunctioning of the irrigation and drainage systems and installation of new systems. These changes affect the land potential and land use and management strategies. The land resource maps and reports would thus require updating before the preparation of a workable national land use plan.

The SSP experts propose to update the data through field investigations in selected areas and digital processing and interpretation of the latest satellite image data to accomplish the task in the shortest possible time. After being updated, all the maps will be digitized and reorganized at district level. The task is expected to take about three years and will be completed with the survey of the remaining 13 per cent area of the country.

Field research is also proposed to select the most suitable crops and uses for different types of lands. Farmland is proposed to be grouped in about 100 major types on the basis of the soils and land capability maps and studies through economic analysis of inputs and returns at medium and high levels of management. The research will make it possible to quantitatively estimate the farmer’s net returns per acre from different land use combinations to mutually compare the same for the selection of the most promising crops or land use systems. The process will also help prescribe appropriate soil and water management packages for each type of farmland. The data so generated might also provide an equitable basis for taxation.

The SSP will classify and map the farmland according to its suitability for various sets of crops and land use systems, the application of which will ensure optimum production and conservation of the national land resources. The process will be completed during the first three years of the execution of the project.

District maps will be produced depicting soils, present land use, land capability, land suitability, land use planning units, agro-ecological zones, canal irrigation commands, groundwater depth and quality, soil salinity or sodicity, drainage conditions, prospective land use types and systems, degraded farmland, potential farmland for development and land development priorities.

Provincial maps will depict the agro-climate zones, generalized soils, major kinds of land use, generalized land capability, soil salinity and sodicity and groundwater depth and quality. National maps will show relief and major landforms, major climate zones and major kinds of land use.

A national land development plan containing district-wise maps of degraded farmland affected by salinity, sodicity, waterlogging, erosion, surface sedimentation or structure deterioration, potential farmland for development and land development priorities will also be prepared with specific recommendations for each type of farmland.