January 14, 2006	Saturday	Zilhaj 13, 1426

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 13: The agriculture machinery and implements recorded a substantial growth during the last 10 years, says an official report. The growth in agriculture machinery production in 1994-2004 resulted in maximization of agriculture output through increased land use and cropping intensities to meet the food and clothing requirements of the increasing population.

The fifth Agriculture Machinery census report, 2004, prepared by the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS), released recently covered bulldozers, combine harvesters, wells with pump, submersible pumps, modern irrigation systems and a large number of farm implements for the first time. The first census was conducted in 1968 followed the second in 1975, the third in 1984 and the fourth in 1994.

According to the report, the number of tractors increased to 401,663 in 2004 from 252,861 in 1994. The percentage of increase in number of tractors in 1984-1994 was 61 per cent and in 1994-2004, it was 59 per cent.

The growth in the number of tractors in 1984-1994 was modest as compared to 1994-2004 for NWFP, Punjab and Sindh. However, it witnessed steep growth of 106 per cent in the number of tractors for Balochistan during the inter-censual period from 1994 to 2004.

Of the total 401,663 tractors, the share of NWFP was six per cent (24,269); Punjab, 83 per cent (331,905); Sindh, 9 per cent (36,245); and Balochistan, 2 per cent (9,244).

Further analysis showed that the private-owned tractors stood at 400,446 (99.7 per cent) against the government agencies-owned tractors of 1,217 (0.3 per cent) engaged wholly or partially in agriculture activities.

The report also indicated that the tractor-drawn implements, owned by the owners, like cultivators was 369,866; mould board plough, 40,050; bar/disk harrow, 23,764; disk plough, 29,218; seed drill/planter 70,810; and ridger, 71,338.

Similarly, the count for trolley and thresher comes to 242,655 and 137,270, respectively.

The count of tubewells and lift pumps increased by 91 per cent from 1984 to 1994 and by 105 per cent from 1994 to 2004. The increase achieved in the number of tubewells and lift pumps during 1994-2004 might be termed all time high and a salient as well as silent causal factor for increased crop production in Pakistan.

Of total tubewells/lift pumps across the country, the relative share of NWFP was 21,524; Punjab 837,904; Sindh 50,683 and Balochistan 20,937, respectively.

Like tractors, the relative share of the private owners in all types of tubewells and lift pumps at country level worked out to be 99 per cent and 95 per cent respectively, while the remaining marginal share was of government agencies.

The agriculture census report revealed that 90 per cent of the government and private tubewells as well as lift pumps were operated by diesel, while only 10 per cent of them were electricity-powered.

In case of government tubewells and lift pumps, electricity was the dominant — 93 per cent — source of power. While for private tubewells and lift pumps, the share of diesel-operated tubewells and lift pumps was 90 per cent.

Thus the unabated increase in the price of diesel would result into increasing the cost of the agriculture production which would not affect the prices of end products but would also reduce the income level of the poor farmers.