May 12, 2003	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 9, 1424

While conservation technologies reached Sindh this year, they now cover an area of about half a million acres in Punjab. But this has been a long haul because the conservation journey began in the province as far back as 1986 and went through the phases of importing, pilot-testing and acquiring the technology and conducting research to make it within the reach of common farmers.

The start was modest, indeed very modest. A Zero tillage drill was put into operation in 1996 in an area of just 50 acres. But it has been a story of steady progress with hard and determined work from then on. It has also been a success story.

Conservation technologies were introduced in the province in 1986. They were acquired from SYMMIT in Mexico, the place from where Norma Bourlag had launched the Green Revolution in the 60’s. Help also came from New Zealand and Rice-Wheat Consortium. The next step was pilot-testing the technology. The National Agriculture Research Council Pakistan also made contribution.

But more important has been making it accessible to farmers. The price of an imported Zero Tillage (ZT) drill was over Rs300,000. That was obviously expensive for a majority of members of the farming sector; small farmers could not even think of it.

Efforts were made to indiginize the equipment and reduce its price. Small level entrepreneurs stepped forward to make the drill and over the years, they have succeeded in bringing down the price to Rs35,000. The result has been rewarding as at least 3,000 ZT drills are currently in operation in Punjab. Large-scale access to the technology is now guaranteed.

A total of about 200 million acres, about 80 per cent of it in the Punjab province, are covered by the wheat crop. The crop is alternated with cotton or rice. The rice-wheat regime is spread over about 12.5 million acres across the country.

Late maturing of long grain rice varieties and consequently delay in harvesting of rice leads to late cultivation of wheat. The problem of low yield is linked with this though other factors also hamper increase in yield. But late sowing is lethal— it costs about one percent loss in yield per day per acre and this cannot be eliminated as long as conservative and traditional methods of cultivation are not replaced by efficient technologies.

Farmers need time to prepare land; the broadcast method of sowing is also spread over days. Broadcast sowing results in low plant population because of uneven distribution of seed. Inefficient application of fertilizer also contributes to low yield. Considerable time and labour is spent by farmers but their reward is not commensurate with the effort.

ZT sowing significantly reduces sowing time. Wheat seed can be sown by this method in the stubbles of rice; the land does not need to be ploughed or subjected to preparation with tractors. Another advantage of this method is that fertilizer is mixed with seed at cultivation time and expedites and strengthens the process of germination.

The agriculture sector has been facing acute water shortage. This has undermined productivity but ZT sowing enables the seed to benefit from residual moisture in the land and quickens germination, thus helping conserve water.

The impact of conservation technology has been assessed at about 30 to 40 per cent increase in the produce of wheat. In addition, farmers save on fuel, time and energy. Their savings come to about Rs1000 per acre in terms of hard cash. This is quite an amount for a small farmer. Income from higher yield is bonus.

But this bonus is available to only a limited number of farmers at this point in time. Half a million acres cultivated with new technologies do not even make a visible dent in the agriculture sector. The need is to take the technology to every nook and corner of wheat land; the Punjab government should extend it to about six million acres. Only then would its benefits become concrete and meaningfully beneficial to the economy.

If the over 12.5 million-acre area of wheat-rice regime is covered by this technology, the outcome would be a giant leap forward in wheat production. At this point, 200 million acres of land yields about 20 million tons of wheat. The crop’s size is increased in good times but considering drought and the rising cost of inputs that small farmers cannot affords, a major rise in the output is to be ruled out.

But if the technology were extended to maximum acreage the produce size would go up by leaps and bounds. The increase in yield in Sindh has been about 16 maunds per acre. In Punjab, farmers using this technology have shown up to 20-25 maunds per acre increase.

Even if the produce improves by 15 maunds per acre in five million acres, the landscape would change.

The dogged work of Punjab’s on-farm water management (OFWM) has brought the country to the threshold of a major breakthrough in wheat production. It had to work with limited resources. At the present rate of propagation of technology, it will be a long time before Pakistan can really have another Green Revolution.

However, it would be a different script if the government appreciates the achievements made thus far and supplements the effort in a big way. It is a challenge for politicians and planners. Hopefully they would pick up the gauntlet and launch the country on the highway to progress in the agriculture sector.

The proposition is before the government. It has to start working for the next crop without loss of time. Making technology available to small farmers would not involve huge funding.

Major landowners have no limitations for investing in productivity of land and many of them have already got on to what looks like a bandwagon for prosperity. If the state plays its role effectively, there is no reason for the agriculture sector to remain stagnant or produce low because there are technologies for boosting cotton and rice output also.