Though agriculture is a lynchpin of our economy, it has remained in doldrums. Currently, about 42 million people are affected by insecure food conditions, while a third of the population is suffering from malnutrition.

Another 33 per cent live under (caloric-based) food poverty line. The number of poor in rural areas is high at 35 per cent as compared to 26 per cent in urban areas. A key issue is to increase the yield of major crops and to provide food security to a large population as ours. It is daunting task for policy makers and scientists.

A developed agriculture can lift the poor out from poverty. The country is endowed with plentiful natural resources, productive soil, water resource base and climatic conditions that permit multiple cropping. The Green Revolution technologies, beginning in 1970s, have remained cornerstone of the South Asian strategy for food security, nutrition, and poverty alleviation.

The critiques of Green Revolution have considered the high input nature of package not only unsustainable but also inequitable. It is also argued that major effect of change, in the agrarian structure of the Pakistani Punjab, has had important implications for the manner and intensity of utilization of new technology, as and when it becomes available.

A small number of large landholders, controlling most of the land and monopolizing the agricultural input market, largely appropriated the benefits channelled through the Green Revolution and rural institutions. As such, benefits remained restricted to a small minority of landlords.

This situation, on one hand worsened inequality, produced poverty and deprivation, while on the other, made agriculture unsustainable business for small and medium farmers.

The sustainability of agriculture depends on the prudent use of natural resources and careful considerations of environment. Our natural resource base like land and water is under great stress by getting worse with the growing population.

Slow productivity growth and negative environmental impact of intensive agriculture suggest infusion of a complimentary set of new technologies. Under the rice-wheat cropping system, farmers grow rice during Kharif i.e., in summer followed by wheat during Rabi, in winter.

Out of total, 2.4 million hectare, about 62 per cent of rice area is mostly in upper Punjab. Punjab is the largest rice-growing province with 78 per cent of the area under fine varieties and produces about 96 per cent of total output. Late harvesting of rice usually delays wheat sowing.

Wheat production is sensitive to the sowing time. The conventional methods of farming further delay sowing thus, decreasing the yield. Zero tillage is a way to overcome this problem.

Farmers in the Indo-Gangetic plains are rapidly adopting the zero-tillage for sowing wheat after rice. This means more yields, cost effectiveness, significant saving in water, soil quality, and inputs.

The zero tillage area surpassed 0.2 million hectares in 2001 in the Indo-Gangetic plains, and its adoption is expected to be extended to one million hectare in next few years. In India and Pakistan, there is an average net benefit of $150 per hectare, through higher yields and less land preparation cost (Gupta 2002).

To secure maximum crop production, the best use of the available land has to be made and the latest method of crop husbandry put into practice. Zero tillage is an important component of agriculture and this technology was initiated in Pakistan (Punjab) during 1996-97. The area reported under zero tillage has increased from 50 acres in 1996-97 to 72,168 acres in 2000-2001 in Punjab alone.

For a technology to be adopted and effective, its economic feasibility and viability are first to be evaluated. Hence, to check the profitability of zero tillage technology, a study was conducted in rice-wheat area of Lahore. Sample study consisted of 80 farmers falling in two categories, those who adopted the zero tillage, and those practicing the conventional farming.

The study demonstrated superiority of the zero tillage technology over the latter. The yield recorded for zero tillage farming was 3,272kg/ha which was significantly larger than the conventional farmer's yield of 3,054.15 kg/ha.

Evaluation showed that the total cost in zero tillage was Rs13,061.70/ha as compared to Rs16,758.32/ha in traditional planting system. Gross margins were Rs16,815.15/ha in the first case, higher than that of Rs13,731.34/ha in conventional practice.

Benefit-cost analysis demonstrated that the zero tillage method was economically the most feasible with benefit cost ratio of 2:28, an attractive option to adopt as compared to conventional method having lower benefit cost ratio of 1:81.

Policy thrust:

* Market-oriented agriculture is essential for the developing nations in a free-trade regime. For this, optimal use of resource is important. It can be achieved by combining the best quality with less cost and enhanced production. Zero tillage offers the solution.

* Small farmers can benefit from this technology which earns more money with little investment.

* As zero tillage technology is conducive in increasing the crop production and net income, and its popularity is increasing among farmers, the area under it can be expanded. The government should further facilitate the promotion of zero tillage technology by encouraging private sector and also by ensuring the quality control of implements used.

* Extension services should be strengthened to disseminate results of the zero tillage technology among the farming communities. Availability of its drills should be ensured in local market at low cost.