Success or failure of farming is intimately related to the prevalent weather conditions. Weather assumes significance in nearly every phase of agricultural activity - from the preparatory tillage to harvesting and the storage.
This is the single limiting factor in crop production and the successful farming calls for timely decision in sowing, transplanting, scheduling of irrigation, timing of fertilizer application, using pesticides, etc.
Forecasts assist in this respect. For instance, long-term forecasts of rainfall pattern allow farmers to plan crop planting and crop rotation for maximum benefit.
While, short-term can help farmers in deciding to withhold pesticides spraying till the rains have passed, thus avoiding anti-environment replication. Unfortunately, since there are no long and short term forecasting systems in our country agriculture has become a gamble, especially in Sindh where agriculture extension and advisory services are almost non-existent.
This is the reason that the farming communities here generally follow their own schedule of sowing, transplanting, selection of seeds, pesticides applications, etc.
A free-for-all like situation could be gauged from the fact that following good price of seed cotton (phutti) the majority of growers in the upper Sindh, particularly, in Districts Khairpur, Sukkur, and Ghotki allowed the cotton crop to stay in the field till the end of December so that phutti could be obtained even from the lately set cotton bolls.
So much so that many growers preferred to forego even the next wheat crop. Delay in the removal of cotton plants from the field subsequently prolonged the Rabi crops, especially wheat and sunflower.
Hopelessly, this strategy did not prove to be cost-effective, rather it boomeranged. The late sown wheat and sunflower crops sustained severe damage because of the unexpected hot and dry whether which lashed the province of Sindh during the first fortnight of March.
As late sown wheat crop was in its milky to early grain formation stage, the drying of ear head inflicted grain damage up to 50 per cent The extent of damage to late sown wheat crop could be gauged from the fact that a grower in Deh Tarai in Taluka Salehpat of District Sukkur apprised to this scribe during survey that from three acres of late sown wheat field he could harvest a mere seven maunds of wheat.
The most pathetic aspect was that to bring in three acres of land under cultivation the poor haree (tenant) had to apply five maunds of wheat seeds, besides bearing the cost of harvesting and fertilizer applications.
Accordingly, in the backdrop of these facts, it can safely be said that the requirement of wheat for the province of Sindh during 2003-2004 may be more than what Minfal's estimated requirement of 2.11 million tons are.
Sunflower: Due to the birds tenting, diseases and sterility the sunflower crop failed to gain popularity as a profitable crop in the upper Sindh region despite decades of campaign by the PODB officials.
This is why majority of sunflower area lies in the rice-growing belt of lower Sindh. However, dejection from the sugarcane crop because of the plethora of problems, as well as the delay in removal of cotton crop during Rabi 2003-2004 season compelled many growers to go with this short-duration crop instead of late sowing of wheat crop, especially in the cotton growing districts of upper Sindh.
Contrary to previous sporadic cultivation of this crop, this year it has been cultivated on hundreds of acres in the cotton growing belt alone. But, as observed during the survey, cultivation of sunflower was undertaken in February as against its recommended sowing dates of November to January in Sindh.
Officials of the PODB were very happy with the situation that their long efforts have been rewarded as growers for the first time had accepted this crop on a large scale.
But, unfortunately cultivation of sunflower undertook with costly seed fell victim of the mite epidemic triggered by hot and dry weather. In rice growing belt of Shikarpur and Jacobabad, however, early sown crop escaped mite damage but in the cotton growing belt it sustained severe damage.
Since late sown sunflower was in it's flowering to early seed formation stage, burning of leaves following severe mites attack virtually dried the very crop. During the survey hundreds of acres of sunflower fields in Taluka Salehpat were found with dried leaves because of severe mite attack.
During the survey it was also observed that the shortage of irrigation water, besides hot and dry weather, also helped in the outbreak of mites pest on this oil-seed crop.
However, the most shocking aspect of this scenario was that neither the agriculture extension officials nor the PODB officials apprehended the outbreak of mites in spite of the fact that hot and dry weather provides ideal condition for the eruption of mites not only on sunflower but in cotton as well.
However, it would be worth mentioning that the same hot and dry spell, which inflicted colossal damage to both late sown wheat and sunflower crops proved a blessing for the date palm fruit crop.
High temperature during the month of March actually coincided with the hatching period of the date palm fruit borer (lepidopterous larvae) bringing natural control of this pest.
Following no infestation there were no droppings of young dates and all the fruit bunches were fully intact. If these fruits on date palms escape monsoon rain certainly a bumper harvest of date crop is likely this year in Sindh.
