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Efficient use of limited water resources in Balochistan

by Nisar Ali Shah, Scientific Officer (SSI), NARC Islamabad

Balochistan, the largest province of Pakistan has an area of 347220 km that accounts for 43 per cent of the total area of the country with a population of 7.5 million, which represents 5 per cent of the national total. Out of the total land area of 34.7million hectares, 18.6 million hectares have been reported. Out of this, only 4.6 per cent i.e.1.6 million hectares is cultivated and the remaining is classified as wrangled with negligible area under forest. Climatic condition are arid, ranging from dry hyper-arid and temperature regimes widely from cool temperate to tropical allowing in the presence of scarce irrigation water, an amazing variety of crops. In fact most temperate Mediterranean, subtropical and tropical crops grow in Balochistan. Only about 2 per cent of the total area of Balochistan are cultivated due to scarcity of water.

Most of the irrigated and un-irrigated horticulture is concentrated in highland Balochistan rainfed/ Sailaba/ kjushkaba agriculture is practised in 70 per cent (0.395 million hectares) of the highland cultivated areas whereas only 30 per cent (0.175 million hectares) is irrigated. Contributions of highland region in province's agriculture are very much significant in the total provincial production of un-mitigated wheat, barley and pulses. This region has a share of these crops approximately 82 per cent, 99 per cent and 43 per cent respectively. In irrigated agriculture, it contributes 67 per cent and 44 per cent to the total production of fruits and vegetables respectively. The production of un- irrigated wheat, barely and pulses entirely depend on the rainfall available during October to January. However, wide fluctuation has been recorded in the availability of this precipitation. The distribution of rainfall is very erratic, irregular and difficult to predict with periods of extreme drought. Wet and dry years tend to come in clusters and attempting to grow grain in this environment is a high risk and low return exercise.

The most limiting factor for crop production in rain fed areas of Balochistan is the skewed distribution of rainfall in both time and space. Annual rainfall in highland Balochistan ranges from 150 to 225 mm in the southern districts of Khuzdar and Kalat to 275 to 350 mm in the northern districts of Loralahi and Zhob. Crop production in non-irrigated areas is either totally dependent on rainfall (khuskaba) or on run-off water collected from non-cultivable land to supplement rainfall (sailaba). Associated with other factors, the low and scanty precipitation with erratic distribution is not sufficient even to recharge the underground water reservoirs, which continue depleting at a very fast rate. This also renders the irrigated horticulture, a vulnerable and high-risk enterprise. Therefore, the need for farming practices that make the most efficient use of the scanty rainfall resource in highland Balochistan is apparent.
Water resources are extremely limited and scarce in Balochistan as compared to others parts of the country. There is dearth of water for irrigation, drinking and domestic purposes. Main dependence of people has always been on nature and indigenous sources such as springs, streams and karez a permanent source of water for drinking and irrigation purposes in highland of the province. This source of water has been the mainstay of economic activity in rural area. Among all the resources, Karez have proved themselves most persistent and sufficient enough to most of the water requirement upon certain climate and ecological factors. Most of the karez that were alive few decades ago, have been abandoned resulting in radical changes such as shift of occupation, migration and strong inclination towards other sources of irrigation like excavation of tube-wells etc. Gradual decline of karez water has made people conscious of the future prospects of water.

In Balochistan the drought from 2000 onwards not only affected the whole agricultural system but also the water table become low and karez almost totally dried up. In highland, water resources and water conservation are practised in several forms. A variety of institutes have research interest in the field with the objectives like: (a) enhancing information exchange (b) identifying high priority area of research (c) Cataloguing future development requirements, and (d) developing and conserving the policies and strategies of scarce water resources. Irrigated crops are the main enterprise and about 54 per cent farmers relied on only irrigated crop. The main source of water for agriculture and orchards development in Balochistan is rainfall and ground water. The rainfall is unevenly distributed with high degree of variation and the choice mostly left to farmers is to use ground-water resources. Hence water, if and whenever available, is used for irrigation of orchards and vegetables in highland Balochistan. The farmers of the areas over-irrigate, if they get more water (somehow), with a view to retain moisture for longer/ till next irrigation. Due to water imbalance between recharge and discharge of the aquifer of the sub-basin, a major problem has been arise, which demands immediate steps be taken to introduce remedial measures for an optimal solution. A combination of construction of water storage structure, introduction of watershed techniques and restriction in the further drilling of tube-wells is needed. It consists of all surface water flow. It takes two farms; overland flow may be in the farm of film sheet of rill of water. The over land flow either percolate in the soil or evaporates or drains in to streams.

Balochistan has many streams, but there is no big stream carrying large volume of water. These streams usually have shallow channels and most of them are not perennial. Accordingly, Balochistan can be divided into three main hydrogenate units: (1) Indus basin (2) inland drainage basin (Kharan), and (3) Makran costal basin. The Makran Coastal zone and several other basins contain highly brackish groundwater. Local communities use groundwater with TDS as high as 3000 mg/l, for drinking purposes, as there are no alternatives. In Mastung Valley, the groundwater has been found to have high fluoride content. The Makran coast and Kharan have also been reported to have high fluoride groundwater. Although rainfall does not occur frequently in arid lands, yet it brings considerable amount of water whenever it falls (10mm of rain equals to 100,000 litres of water per hectare). Harvesting this main source provides water for those regions, where other sources are either too distant or costly. Rainwater can be harvested in areas receiving as little as 50-80 mm average rainfall, which seems to be the lowest limit.

The efficient use of available water can be increased through the following measures: (a) control of evaporation from water surface in reservoirs and canals, (b) lining of open channels and use of pipes to transport water for reducing seepage losses, (c) use of improved irrigation practices such as drip irrigation system in place of furrow irrigation etc. The district governments must control related problems with excessive or irregular irrigation; and this can only be materialised if improved surface irrigation practices are adopted. The critical role of supplying only the necessary amount of water at the required time is performed by agricultural irrigation systems. In addition to traditional open channels, use of pipeline irrigation is a more rational form of water management, which allows a more economic use of water resources. Water management, use and efficiency related problem in the developing world arises, either from too much water or from too little quantity provided. Water pollution further exacerbates the too little water availability problem.

Water related problems affect almost all countries of the world, though in different degrees in magnitude and importance depending on the geographic location that determines the climatic characteristics. The topographical and geological features that define the hydrological characteristics and the social conditions, including population and degrees of economic development. Secondly, policies promoting participation of private sectors and communities in managing water problems in the developing countries, needed to be promoted through the international support programs in order to improve accountability and to find appropriate valuation for water in each locality. The water table in highland of Balochistan is falling 1-3 meters every year. It indicates that water availability for irrigation purposes is decreasing with the passage of time, adversely affecting crop productivity and the farming community at large. Furthermore, the farmers of those areas are using underground water resources at least twice as fast they are being replenished. Already, excessive ground water mining has caused land subsidence in several regions of highland Balochistan. Highly variable nature of rainfall makes groundwater the most popular alternative for irrigation and domestic water use. This dependence on ground water resources is particularly critical where dry season surface water levels are low or where wet season flows are too disruptive to be easily tapped. In addition to being accessible, groundwater quality is generally excellent in most areas and presents a relatively safe source of drinking water for the masses in rural and urban centres.

Agriculture remains central to the highland Balochistan economy. The main problem confronting the farmers of Balochistan is the shortage of irrigation water. The only possible solution to this problem is to save the rainwater by construction of small dams throughout the province especially in highlands, in order to raise the underground water table on priority. Moreover, the indiscriminate installation of tube-wells should be restricted to avoid a complete disaster. Due to lack of planning, the sustainability of agriculture sector in highland seems to be in trouble, as the most precious resources like water has been mined indiscriminately and underground water is going to dry. So there is an urgent need to take initiative by district, provincial and federal governments. Besides all this, development and dissemination of new technologies like trickle irrigation are urgently needed in the area.

Balochistan is famous for the production of quality deciduous fruits like almond, apple, apricot, cherry, grapes, peach, plum, and pomegranate due to climatic suitability. After apple, grape is the second major fruit in Balochistan. Within fruits it contributed 15.22 per cent and 10.17 per cent both in area and production respectively in Balochistan while grapes contribute 98.42 per cent and 95.37 per cent in overall area and production of Pakistan. A number of varieties of grapes are grown in highland areas of the province. The leading grape varieties grown are: Haita, Kishmishi, Shundokhani, Sahibi and Shekhali. The main grape producing areas are Quetta, Pishin, Killa Abdullah, Mastung, Kalat, Loralai and Zhob districts. But here we focus on three famous grape producing areas i.e. Pishin, Killa Abdullah and Mastung. These districts contributed more than 70 per cent to area and production of grapes in the province. Grape production during the last decade increased from 31,010 to 73,787 tonnes with an increase of 138 per cent mainly due to rural electrification, which resulted in extensive installation of tubewells. If more attention is focused on mechanisation, labour requirements and good crop management, the production of vine can be further increase by another 25 per cent. Higher rate of return refers to those sites with electricity available for pumping irrigation water. The development of agriculture sector in highland Balochistan depends on the availability of groundwater, which is indiscriminately pumped out and results in the sharp decline of underground water table. Grape is a short duration crop and having great quantity of carbohydrates, it is a best source of energy. The fruit is consumed both fresh and in a dried form called Monaka and Kishmish.

A team of agriculture economists from Technology Transferred Institute, Social Sciences Division (PARC), Quetta conducted this research. Districts Pishin and Killa Abdullah lie in the north while district Mastung is located in south of Quetta. Eighty-five per cent of the farmers practice mixed orchards while the remaining 15 per cent plant mono crop orchards. Grape orchards are inter-cropped with apples, apricot, peaches, pomegranate, plum, etc. Haita, Kishmishi and Shundokhani are the most popular commercial grape varieties grown in the area. These varieties were grown on 36, 32 and 24 per cent of the total area, while Sahibi and Shekhali varieties are grown on 2 to 4 per cent of area. Haita variety was high yielding followed by Kishmish and Shundokhani. Shundokhani variety is high priced as compared with other varieties. The average yield of all varieties taken together is calculated as 6239, 4975, 4584, 4745, 4775, and 3811 kg per acre of Haita, Kashmish, Shundokhani, Sahibi and Shekhali respectively. In district Killa Abdullah the yield per acre was 5,315 kg, which was higher than that of Pishin 4,601 kg and Mastung 4,100 kg. Forty-five per cent farmers obtained grape cuttings for new orchards from their neighbour farmers or from own vineyard. While 15 per cent farmers purchased the cuttings from private nurseries. Planting new vineyard the farmers mostly used cutting of grapes locally called "Lashta" which they got free of cost from neighbour farmers. Some farmers purchased rooted cuttings from private nurseries at Rs10-15 cutting of one to two years of age and called "Dogana" in local language. Good crop management can increase the profits and decrease the costs involved in grape production. However, there is a need for improvement in overall management, reduction of costs in various areas, and better utilisation of material resources in order to raise per capita consumption of grapes, which is 3.5 time lower than in others areas. The costs involved are listed as below:

Establishment of vineyard is a long-term investment. Here the farmers put their resources not for an early return as in other annual crops but after three to four years orchards bear fruit and give returns. The first year establishment costs included land preparation; marking trenches for vine cultivation, pits, grape cuttings and their planting. These calculations are based on an average for all three locations of Pishin, Killa Abdullah and Mastung.

The variable costs of grapes comprised of vineyard management practices, which included support walling of grapes ridges to support grapes plants, watering, fertiliser and farm yard manure application. Hoeing, weeding, chemical sprays for controlling pests and diseases, pruning; layering and protection of ripened grapes from birds were also involved in variable costs, which differ from area to area and farmer to farmer. The highest per acre costs on vineyard management on year basis were incurred by farmers of district Killa Abdullah which were Rs18,841, followed by Pishin Rs14,156 and Mastung Rs13,851. Average cost for all three locations was Rs15496 per acre. Increase in prices of agro-chemicals and other variable costs had significant effects on production costs and consequently the profitability of grape production. The overall cost benefit ratio of mature vines was 1:1.6 while it was 1:1.48 for district Killa Abdullah, 1:1.51 for district Pishin and 1:1.8 in district Mustang. The district-wise comparison of the results showed that grapes gave highest net return/profit in district Mastung followed by Killa Abdullah and Pishin. The highest per acre production cost was incurred in Killa Abdullah i.e. Rs64,580 followed by Pishin Rs52,979 and Mastung Rs36,388. Returns from grape are still reasonably attractive, if imports of grape from Afghanistan are not allowed in future the returns of grape will be further higher and attractive for the farmers.

Ninety percent of the farmers sell their orchards to pre-harvest contractors while the remaining 10 per cent farmers market through direct sale of the produce because direct sales benefit the producers more than contract sales. Marketing channel is a process of selling of different commodities at different stages, which involve a number of intermediaries like contractor, commission agents, wholesalers and retailers. Long chain of intermediaries makes marketing operation less efficient and more costly, as each intermediary in the chain receives his share. Two most common distribution channels observed are: (i) Producer -Pre-harvest Contractor -Commission agent-Wholesaler-Retailer-Consumer and (ii). Producer-Commission agent-Wholesaler-Retailer-Consumer.

Lack of planning poses a serious threat to the sustainability of agriculture sector in highlands Balochistan. The most precious resources like water are being exhausted indiscriminately and the underground water resources are under extreme pressure of extinction. So there is an urgent need to address these issues by construction of check/delay action dams in suitable areas of the province on priority. Development and dissemination of new technologies like trickle irrigation system, high yielding, and drought and disease resistance varieties of fruits are urgently needed.

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