THE upper Sindh on either side of the River Indus had its own long-established pattern of agriculture.

On the right bank in districts Shikarpur, Larkana and Jacobabad rice crop was followed by dobari crops (crops grown on soil moisture left after paddy harvest) mainly gram, Sindhi matar and rapeseed, but due to the growing problem of weed, wheat crop including the variety locally called Thorhi has become common after rice crop.

In 1996 the Pakistan Oilseed Development Board (PODB) tried to introduce canola oilseed as dobari crop both in the rice-growing belt of upper Sindh and Balochistan. But the efforts of the board failed because of high vulnerability of canola to rice hoppers.

On the left bank of Indus River in Ghotki, Sukkur, Khairpur, Naushero Feroze and Nawabshah districts, the cropping pattern was wheat-cotton. However, after the setting up of sugar mills in the area, sugarcane became a major crop.

Now within a span of 30 years if the present pattern of agriculture is compared with that of early 1980’s, a significant change is evident in upper Sindh. In districts Ghotki and Sukkur where cotton was a dominant crop in early 1980’s now rice and sugarcane have taken its place in spite of the fact that cultivation of rice in cotton belt has been banned under the Rice Ordinance of 1959.

Another crop which entered the agriculture pattern of upper Sindh in 1990’s was banana. Because of better economic return banana plantation managed to replace cotton crop on vast acreage on the left bank of River Indus. However, an exotic banana bunchy top virus has limited the spread of this fruit crop.

As a matter of fact, the advancing twin menace of water-logging and salinity are playing a dominant role in determining the pattern of agriculture. Like in Ghotki and Sukkur, the restricted crop of rice is also being cultivated in Khairpur district now. But as the area is climatically suitable for date palm, growers prefer to grow palm trees in the water-logged and salinity-affected land.

In Nawabshah and Naushero Feroz districts, also cotton area, the crop is gradually disappearing following the twin menace.However, after the commissioning of a Medium Density Fibre (MDF) board factory at Shahpur Jahania in Moro, cultivation of sesbani locally known as ‘Manjhandiri’ is taking place as an important crop. This is a salt-tolerant and capable of withstanding water-logged condition. It is a perennial shrub that helps in reclaiming saline and water-logged soil. This woody shrub is used as raw material for the MDF board.

The unprecedented rain during 2011 monsoon season devastated cotton, banana and to some extent sugarcane crop in Nawabshah and Naushero Feroz districts. Prolonged submergence of land under rainwater did not allow growers to cultivate wheat this year. Even today thousands of acres in cotton growing areas of Sakrand, Saeedabad, Daur, Bandi, Sarhari etc., are not fit for growing any crop because of water-logged condition. In this area growers have no option but to switch over to sesbania cultivation. It is feared that because of no time for growing wheat or even sunflower crops, growers may opt to cultivate the banned crop of rice during Khareef season in the rain-affected areas of upper Sindh which is a cotton belt.

While recalling change in agriculture pattern, it would be relevant to mention here that the super flood during 2010 has laid the foundation of a good oilseed crop sunflower in the rice-growing areas of upper Sindh. Following good economic return from the crop last year, cultivation of sunflower is likely to be undertaken on large scale this year particularly in Shikarpur and Dadu districts as per quantum of seed sold by multinational seed companies.

Last year the Sindh government and some NGOs had distributed sunflower seed and fertiliser free of cost among growers in the rice growing districts of upper Sindh.

No doubt with the increasing twin menace of water-logging and salinity, growers are switching over from one crop to another particularly from cotton to rice and sugarcane but this is not a solution. This is because those cotton areas which were brought under banned rice cultivation about a decade ago are no more suitable even for rice or sugarcane because of increasing salinity and water-logging.

The solution of the problem lies in construction of appropriate drainage system and installing devices to lower underground water level and controlling salinity. Importance of this system could be gauged from the fact that a prominent politician and progressive grower of Sukkur district Syed Khursheed Ahemd Shah has reclaimed over hundred acres of his extensively water-logged and saline land by constructing interceptor drain alongside his newly developed farm at Saleh Pat.

The land has been reclaimed in about three years. Now the reclaimed land is almost fit for cotton and sugarcane and the rest for rice crop. At the moment the entire reclaimed land is under lush green wheat crop. This farm is also equipped with the latest system of irrigation – mobile, power-operated sky sprinkler system.

Since, financially constrained growers of Sindh cannot afford constructing interceptor drainage system, it is imperative that the provincial government should come forward to save the agriculture of Sindh on war footing from the devastation of the twin-menace of water-logging and salinity.