THE Punjab government has given the field wing of the provincial agriculture department a target of 50,000 acres for horizontal land levelling for current fiscal year 2016-17 while the wing lacks required gadgetry capacity and pro-farmer approach to perform.

The field formations have got first and second quarter target of 10,000 acres each and 15,000 acres each for third and fourth quarters to convert cultivable waste land into cropping land. Up to 65pc target has so far reported to have been achieved in the first quarter.

Officials cite a couple of reasons — rainy spell, malfunctioning of decades-old bulldozers, non-availability of subsidized diesel and bulldozers to deserving farmers — behind the non-achievement of target in the first quarter. The picture of second ongoing quarter is not too different.

As per the department’s figures, up to 3.8m acres in the province was cultivable wasteland and the field wing was able to make only 1.5m acres cultivable since its inception in 1970s.

The biggest wasteland area falls in Muzaffargarh district with 500,000 acres of land while Faisalabad district has minimum waste land area of 2,270 acres. Other hotspots are districts of Layyah, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan besides Pothohar region.

A summary moved to the Chief Minister Secretariat around three and half months ago to get funds for the repairs and replacements of engines in obsolete bulldozers is pending.

Currently there are 306 bulldozers (bought in 1990s) with the field wing and almost all have lost their efficacy. Each working bulldozer takes five hours break after four hours field work.

As per the department’s figures, up to 3.8m acres in the province was cultivable wasteland, and the field wing was able to make only 1.5m acres cultivable since its inception in 1970s

Interestingly the government is providing free diesel to small farmers who have to pay Rs560 rent per hour while progressive farmers with large holdings pay for diesel and Rs100 rent per hour for tractor.

“The department has auctioned 44 bulldozers to earn Rs200m to provide new bulldozers or rehabilitation of existing ones”, said a senior department official.

Unfortunately, the promise was not fulfilled by the government.

The official recalls the field wing had achieved close to 50,000 acres per year in 2009/10 when around 60 bulldozers got brand new engines and some others were overhauled to give extra output.

He says bulldozers in use have already completed its 11,000 hours age-limit and need urgent replacement, adding a new bulldozer will cost in around Rs30m which is not a big issue for the government.

He says the bulldozers also face dearth of diesel in some districts.

The official further says the department has enhanced annual target of revenue from Rs179 million in fiscal 2015-16 to Rs182 million in fiscal 2016-17 from rent outing bulldozers without realising the ground realities.

A field officer of the field wing cautions that Punjab on the one hand is fast losing the cropping area because of increasing urbanization, industrialization, salinity, sodicity and infrastructure building along fertile land, and on the other hand non-availability of bulldozers to deserving and small farmers is also restricting the wing to achieve the annual target.

He says currently powerful serving and retired military and civil bureaucrats and politically implemented landlords occupy a good number of bulldozers most of the time, a problem which is beyond the control of the department officials.

“I hired costly private bulldozers in FY2011-12 to make 25 acres sandy land cultivable”, said Rao Kaleem Khan of Nawazabad village of Bahawalpur district.

He said private service had cost him in approximately Rs2.8m with Rs2,400 per hour at the time when diesel rate was high, adding deserving farmers hardly can avail the subsidized service being provided by the agriculture department.

Khan says farmers are still forced to get bulldozers from the private sector in Rs1700/1800 per hour rent.

Outgoing Punjab Agriculture Minister Dr Farrukh Javed says a steering committee headed by him has approved over-hauling of 150 bulldozers 10 days ago, but adds he is not aware of its approval by the Chief Minister’s Secretariat and the Chief Secretary Office. He realizes the need to buy new bulldozers for better output in the fields.

Published in Dawn, Business & Finance weekly, December 12th, 2016