Agricultural systems
A farm works as a system with inputs, processes and outputs.
| Subsistence farm (small-scale) | Cash-crop farm | Livestock farm | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inputs | land, family labour, seeds, simple tools, water, manure | land, seed, fertiliser, machines, irrigation water, hired labour, loans | land and grazing, fodder, water, animals, vaccines, labour |
| Processes | ploughing, sowing/transplanting, irrigating, weeding, harvesting, threshing | the same, with machines and chemicals | grazing, feeding, breeding, milking, shearing, slaughter |
| Outputs | crops mainly for the family's own food (small surplus sold) | crops for sale (cotton, rice, sugar cane, wheat) to factories, markets and export | milk, meat, wool, hides, eggs, and dung |
Crops and livestock
Where the main crops are grown
| Crop | Main areas |
|---|---|
| Wheat (the staple food) | the Punjab (the main producer), also Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the rain-fed Potwar |
| Rice | Punjab (Gujranwala–Sialkot basmati belt) and Sindh (Larkana, Dadu, Jacobabad: IRRI-type); also parts of Balochistan |
| Cotton | Punjab (Multan, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Faisalabad) and Sindh (Sukkur, Hyderabad, Nawabshah) |
| Sugar cane | Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Mardan, Charsadda) |
Uses: wheat for flour and bread; rice for food and export; cotton for textiles (yarn, cloth), cotton-seed oil and animal feed; sugar cane for sugar, gur (jaggery) and molasses, and bagasse (fuel).
Livestock
| Animal | Main areas | Products and uses |
|---|---|---|
| buffalo | Punjab and Sindh | milk (and ghee, butter), meat, hides, work animals |
| cattle | Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | milk, meat, hides, ploughing and transport, dung (fuel and manure) |
| goats | Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh | meat, milk, hair, skins |
| sheep | Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | wool, meat, skins |
| poultry | near large cities (Punjab) and Karachi | eggs and meat |
Livestock details. The best-known buffalo breeds are the Nili-Ravi and Kundi. In villages the shamilat (common grazing land) is used by the whole village. Commercial dairy farms near cities (such as those near Karachi and Islamabad) buy in fodder and use better breeding, while most livestock is kept on small farms.
Other crops
| Crop | Areas | Use |
|---|---|---|
| apples | Quetta, Kalat, Swat, Murree hills | eaten fresh, juice |
| apricots | Hunza, Swat, Balochistan | fresh and dried (for export) |
| bananas | Sindh (Thatta, Hyderabad) | eaten fresh |
| dates | Khairpur (Sindh), Makran (Turbat), Dera Ghazi Khan | food and export |
| maize | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab | food (flour), animal feed, starch/oil |
| mangoes | Multan, Sindh (Mirpurkhas), Rahim Yar Khan | fresh fruit, export, juice |
| millet | the dry Thal, Tharparkar, Balochistan | food, fodder |
| oilseeds | Punjab and Sindh (rapeseed, mustard, sunflower) | cooking oil |
| oranges (kinnow) | Sargodha (Punjab) | fruit, juice and export |
| pulses | Punjab (Thal: chickpeas/gram), Sindh | protein food (lentils) |
| tobacco | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Mardan, Swabi) | cigarettes |
| vegetables | near big cities | fresh food |
How the main crops are grown
| Crop | Calendar and method | Rain or water needed (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Wheat (rabi) | sown October–December after ploughing, irrigated about twice (it needs less water than other crops), harvested April–May, threshed to separate the grain from the chaff. High-yielding varieties (such as Mexi-Pak), fertiliser and better water management have raised yields, but Pakistan is rarely self-sufficient as population and waterlogged land grow | about 450–600 mm |
| Rice (kharif) | seeds sown in a nursery, seedlings transplanted by hand into flooded, levelled fields, kept flooded until nearly ripe, then harvested and threshed (by animals or machine) and milled. IRRI varieties and basmati (for export) are important | about 1,200–2,000 mm (so irrigation) |
| Cotton (kharif) | sown April–May in rows, irrigated about a month later and again later, bolls ripen October–November in dry weather and are picked by hand, then ginned to separate the lint from the seed (cottonseed gives oil and animal feed) | about 750–1,300 mm |
| Sugar cane (kharif) | planted February–May from stem cuttings, takes about a year, cut by hand and taken quickly to the mill; the roots can be ratooned (left to sprout again) for a second crop. By-products: bagasse (fuel, paper and board) and molasses | about 1,500–2,000 mm |
Other crops. Maize (kharif) gives flour, oil and feed; pulses (mung, mash, gram, masoor) are rich in protein and fix nitrogen in the soil; millets (jowar, bajra) are fodder and food on poor land; oilseeds are not enough for home needs, so much edible oil is imported; tobacco is grown mostly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Mardan, Swabi). Wheat, rice, cotton and sugar cane together make up most of the value of crop output.
Importance of farming. Agriculture provides a fifth or more of GDP and employs roughly 40% of workers (the share has been falling), and the livestock sector alone gives over a tenth of GDP. About a quarter of the land is cultivated, mostly with canal water.
Factors affecting production
Subsistence farming
| Example | How it works and what affects it |
|---|---|
| Rice grown by traditional methods | ploughing (by oxen) the wet land, transplanting seedlings by hand, irrigating the fields, harvesting and threshing by hand, on small, fragmented holdings using family labour. Natural factors: needs warm temperatures (above 20 °C), plenty of water and flat land with clay soil. Human factors: small, split-up plots (inheritance), little money for inputs, and low-yield seeds |
| Wheat in barani (rain-fed) areas (the Potwar and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) | depends on winter rain; yields are low and uncertain because of drought; no irrigation |
| Dates and vegetables with karez irrigation in a desert oasis (Balochistan) | the karez is an underground tunnel that carries water from the foothills to the desert by gravity; little evaporation; limited water, so small areas |
Cash-crop farming (kharif and rabi crops)
| Crop | Natural factors | Human factors |
|---|---|---|
| Cotton (kharif) | hot summer (over 21 °C), at least 200 frost-free days, moderate rain or irrigation, dry weather at harvest; deep, fertile soil | irrigation, fertiliser and pesticides, labour to pick it, markets (textile mills), prices |
| Rice (kharif) | high temperatures, plenty of water, flat fields with clay soil | irrigation (canals), labour for transplanting and harvesting, export markets |
| Sugar cane (kharif) | hot, wet climate, 12–18 months to grow; deep fertile soil | irrigation, sugar mills nearby (the cane must be processed soon after cutting), government support price |
| Wheat (rabi) | cool winter, warm and dry harvest, moderate water | irrigation, seeds and fertiliser, support price, machinery |
Livestock farming
- Poultry, buffalo and cattle on small farms: depend on fodder, water, disease control and markets for milk and eggs, and are often kept near cities.
- Nomadic and semi-nomadic farming of cattle, goats and sheep: in Balochistan and the mountains, herders move with their animals to find pasture. Transhumance is the seasonal movement between summer pastures in the mountains and winter pastures in the valleys. Factors: the climate, water, grass, disease and tribal customs.
Irrigation
| Type | Description | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perennial canal | canals from barrages carry water all year | reliable; supplies large areas of cash crops | expensive; causes waterlogging and salinity |
| Inundation canal | canals that fill only when the river is high (flood season) | cheap | seasonal, so not suitable for all crops |
| Karez | underground tunnels from the hills to the plain | low evaporation, cheap to run | very labour-intensive, and drying up where the water table falls |
| Persian wheel | a wheel with buckets turned by animals that lifts water from a well or canal | cheap, no fuel | slow and small scale |
| Tubewell | an electric or diesel pump draws up groundwater | reliable; provides water to areas without canals | needs power; groundwater falls and may become salty |
The roles of the system. Dams store water, barrages raise the river level and divert water to canals, link canals transfer water between rivers, distribution canals (distributaries) carry it to areas, field channels (watercourses) deliver it to farms, and bunds (small earth walls) hold the water on a field.
Waterlogging and salinity
- Causes. The Indus plain is flat, with a high water table. Seepage from unlined canals, over-irrigation and poor drainage raise the water table until the roots are waterlogged. In the heat, water evaporates from the surface and leaves salts behind, giving salinity.
- Effects. Crops die or yield less; land can be abandoned (millions of hectares are affected).
- Reclamation. Drainage (SCARP projects: tubewells to lower the water table), flushing the salt with water, gypsum applied, salt-tolerant crops and tree planting.
- Prevention. Line canals, improve water management (water pricing, laser levelling, drip irrigation), and grow suitable crops.
Government action to increase production
- Land reforms (1959, 1972, 1977) to limit the size of the largest holdings and give land to tenants. Effect: limited, as landlords found ways round the laws.
- Training and extension: agricultural universities (Faisalabad), research institutes, and extension workers advising farmers.
- Machinery: tractors, harvesters, supported by loans from the Agricultural Development Bank.
- Chemicals and seeds: fertilisers, pesticides and high-yielding varieties (the Green Revolution of the 1960s: Mexican wheat) increased wheat and rice yields.
- Other means: support prices, subsidies, water development (Mangla and Tarbela), credit, and roads to markets.
Development of agriculture and its sustainability
Effects of chemicals on the environment. Too much nitrate fertiliser and pesticide washes into rivers and canals; the nitrates make algae grow, which use up oxygen so that fish die (eutrophication), and polluted water harms people who drink it.
Possibilities: more irrigated land, higher yields with better seeds and modern methods, crop diversification and processing (food and fruit), livestock and dairy, and exports. Problems: water shortage, waterlogging and salinity, small, fragmented farms, poor storage, climate change and floods, and low prices. Sustainability needs efficient water use, soil care and protecting the environment.
Outline. Natural: hot summers and a long frost-free season, irrigation water, dry harvest weather, deep, fertile soil. Human: labour for picking, fertiliser and pesticides, irrigation supply, mills and markets, government support price. Say which matter most (water and climate).