Agriculture

• Agriculture is a combination of two words: "Agri" meaning farming and "culture" meaning practice
• Agriculture is a primary industry concerned with obtaining raw material from the ground for immediate consumption or further processing
• All types of agriculture can be viewed as a system with Inputs, Processes, and Outputs
• Inputs in agriculture fall into two groups:

  • Natural/Physical inputs: Agricultural requirements provided by nature like Land, Soil, and Climate
  • Human inputs: Agricultural requirements provided by man like Capital and Labor
• Processes in agriculture include ploughing, sowing, irrigation, fertilizing, weeding, threshing, milking, and breeding
• Outputs in agriculture are the results of inputs, such as crops like rice, wheat, and cotton
• Rabi Crops are cultivated in October and November and harvested in April and May, e.g., wheat

  Kharif Crops are cultivated in May and June and harvested in October and November, e.g., rice and cotton
• Small Scale Subsistence Farming produces food and raw material mainly for the people who work on them, any surplus for sale is a bonus, not an expectation
• Drawbacks of Small Scale Subsistence Farming:

  • Machinery cannot be used
  • Loans cannot be obtained easily
  • Irrigation is difficult on small farms
  • Experiments for increasing production are limited
• Cash Crop Farming is the growing of agricultural crops for sale, aiming to maximize profit and increase agricultural output
• Wheat is a Rabi crop used in the manufacturing of bread and baked products, requiring moderate rainfall and specific temperature conditions
• Geographical Requirements for Wheat crop:

  • Moderate rainfall (200-500 mm)
  • Specific temperature conditions
• Geographical Requirements for Wheat crop:

  • Rainfall: Moderate rainfall required (e.g. 200 - 500 mm)
  • Temperature: 10 - 20 C at sowing, 25 - 30 C or above at harvesting
  • Soil: Fertile soil needed (Alluvial, Loamy, or Clay)
  • Land: Must be flat and well drained
  • Sunshine needed for warmth, ripening, and photosynthesis
• High Yielding Varieties of Seeds for Wheat:

  • Shahkhan 95
  • Wadnak 95
  • Kohson 95
  • Maxipak
• Wheat producing Areas:

  • Punjab province: Faisalabad, Multan, Bahawalpur, Sialkot, Muzaffargarh, Jhang, Okara, Rahimyar khan
  • Sindh province: NausheroFeroz, Nawab shah, Khairpur, Ghotki, Sanghar, Mirpur Khas, Dady, Hyderabad
  • Khyberpaktunkhan: Mardan, D.I. Khan, Peshawar, Charsadha, Swabi, Kohat
  • Balochistan: Nasirabad, Jafarabad, Khuzdar
• Reasons for using High Yielding Varieties (Wheat):

  • Gain maximum output
  • Increasing demand due to population growth
  • Pest resistance
  • Fast growth
  • Drought resistance
  • Government encouragement
• Why Wheat is a Rabi crop:

  • Requires mild temperature at sowing (10 - 20 C) and dry season for harvest
  • Temperature remains 25 - 30 C or above
  • Rainfall of 200 - 500 mm
• Expected water demands for crops in Pakistan by 2025:

  • Rice is expected to have a decrease in water demand
  • Water demand for wheat expected to increase by 31 - 34 million acre feet between 1990 and 2025
  • Reasons for increased water demand for wheat: More wheat cultivation due to population growth, reclamation of desert areas, use of high yielding varieties, chemical fertilizers, and double cropping
• Alluvial soil:

  • Silt/Loam deposited by rivers due to flooding, rich in nutrients or minerals
• Importance of Alluvial soil for crop growth:

  • Fertile, contains nutrients like nitrate, potash, phosphate
  • Moisture retentive
  • Replaced annually
  • Not prone to waterlogging
• Climate for Wheat growth:

  • Wheat harvested about 6 months after sowing, likely sown in April/May
  • Climate good for growth: Mild temperature (13 - 23 C), warmer for ripening (July 23 - August 22), moderate rainfall (16 - 26 mm per month), dry period for harvesting
• Comparison of Wheat production:

  • Higher production than in 1999
  • Same as 2000/2006
• Reasons for changes in Wheat production over the years:

  • Rainfall variability/drought
  • Floods/storm damage, poor irrigation
  • Pest attacks, family sickness, wheat prices
  • Overall increase reasons: High Yielding Varieties, more fertilizer, training, mechanization, and population growth
• Geographical Requirements for Rice crop:

  • Land: Leveled ground needed
  • Soil: Alluvial soil preferred
  • Temperature: 25 - 35 C at sowing and harvesting
  • Rainfall: Heavy rainfall required (1270 mm minimum, over 2000 mm ideal)
  • Sunshine needed for warmth, ripening, and photosynthesis
• High Yielding Varieties of Seeds for Rice:

  • Irripak
  • Basmati
• Importance of Rice cultivation:

  • Labor-intensive due to various tasks like nursery preparation, ploughing, irrigation, transplanting, weeding, and harvesting
  • Not grown in barani farming areas due to insufficient rainfall for flooding fields
• Reasons for using High Yielding Varieties (Rice):

  • Maximum output
  • Increasing demand from population growth
  • Pest resistance
  • Fast growth
  • Drought resistance
  • Government encouragement
• Why Rice is a Kharif crop:

  • Requires warm temperature at sowing and harvesting
  • Dry season for harvest
  • Monsoon rain for growth and flooding fields
• Importance of increasing Rice production:

  • Increasing population
  • Food scarcity
  • Decreasing imports
  • Boosting exports for foreign exchange
• Canal irrigation for Rice cultivation:

  • Water sourced from river/reservoir/dam/barrages
  • Controlled by gates
  • Fields flooded for nursery beds and growth
  • Drained before harvest
• Rice cultivation on small-scale farms in Pakistan:

  • Manual labor with minimal machinery
  • Seeds planted in nurseries and transplanted into flooded fields
  • Care for growth includes weeding, pest control, and water management
• Cotton cultivation:

  • Kharif crop sown in April-May, picked in September-November
  • Seeds sown at 30-40 cm distance, irrigated after one month and two months
  • Cotton bolls ripen in dry months, size depends on seed variety and fertilizers
  • Cotton bales transported to ginning mills for seed separation
• Cotton Crop As a System:
• Inputs:

  • Cotton
  • Land
  • Soil
  • Climate (Temperature & Rain)
  • Irrigation
  • Sunshine
  • Fertilizing
• Processes:

  • Ploughing
  • Sowing
  • Weeding
  • Picking
  • Harvesting
• Outputs:

  • For sale
  • Profit
  • By Products (e.g. Bagasse)
• Geographical Requirements for Cotton Crop:
• Temperature:

  • At the time of sowing 25 C - 35 C and same temperature at picking, with dry and sunny days
  • Cotton is sensitive to frost
• Rainfall:

  • Ample rainfall preferred, i.e. 1000 mms, coming in frequent showers, with sunny periods
  • Rain at picking spoils the bolls from which the lint is extracted
• Soil:

  • Loamy / Alluvial soil is the best