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Balochistan proposes comprehensive farm package

RECORDER REPORT

QUETTA: The Balochistan government has proposed to the federal government Rs. 5132.855 million comprehensive package to boost agriculture and make Balochistan future food basket of Pakistan during the first decade of the current century. Official sources indicated to a group of journalists here on Monday, a sizeable portion of 4.6 million hectares of land is lying as cultivable waste Rs. 5132.855 million, 13-point agriculture development plan, execution as envisaged, would give greater fillip to food, fruit cash and crops output by bringing maximum cultivable waste, under cultivation.

The programme provides for Sailaba cultivation (Rs. 1213.169m), research stations in major ecological zones (Rs. 1200m) independent campus at Balochistan agriculture college, Baleli near Quetta (Rs. 1200m) wheat maximizing production (Rs. 100m), oil palm cultivation (Rs. 100m), agriculture staff training institution (Rs. 100m), olive promotion production (Rs. 76m), trickle irrigation (Rs. 58m) and maximum cotton production (Rs. 54.288m).

The Programme also envisages establishing cottage industry for dates processing, dates research centre in Makran division, Apple Processing Centre and post harvest fruit plants at Quetta and in the fruit producing areas of the province.

According to these sources the package is based on agro-ecological diversity obtaining in Balochistan, such diversity permits the cultivation of a wide range of field and farm crops, as amply proved by impressive increase in almost every food and cash crops production during the last decade of the 1999 century.

Asked why the farming community does not get benefit from such diversity, these sources said, low yield, poor quality, significant post harvest losses and weak marketing system tend to keep net returns to the farmer low.

Asked further if any significant steps have been taken to surmount these peasantry problems these sources indicated eleven projects under execution at a cost of Rs. 262.300m including FPA of Rs. 184m during the current financial year 1999-2000 with the assistance of the World Bank, Japan and IFAD. These are on farm water management and Patfeedor command area, development projects.

To another question, these sources said, the proposed plan would make agriculture sustainable: improve marketing of farm produce, their export to foreign countries, promote agro-based industries e.g. rice husking, polishing, cotton ginning, edible oil production, cultivation of wild plant species of economic importance, preserve genetic diversity of native cultivars, wild relatives of agricultural crops, conserve top soils in agricultural lands, maintain their fertility, promote integrated pest management, make proper use of agro chemicals, rehabilitate water logged and saline soils in canal irrigated tracts, improve irrigation efficiency, control ground water mining (discharge not to exceed recharge) and encourage harvesting rain and floodwater.