AGRICULTURE IN PAKISTAN: IRRIGATION, GREEN REVOLUTION AND WATER DISPUTES

AGRICULTURE IN PAKISTAN

Land use: agricultural land: 35. 2 percent (2011 est.)
Irrigated land: 202,000 square kilometers (2012)
arable land: 27.6 percent (2011 est.) / permanent crops: 1. 1 percent (2011 est.) / permanent pasture: 6.5 percent (2011 est.)
forest: 2. 1 percent (2011 est.)
other: 62.7 percent (2011 est.)

Agricultural land is divided into arable land (land cultivated for crops like wheat and rice that are replanted after each harvest) and permanent crops (land with for crops like citrus, coffee, and rubber that are not replanted after each harvest) and permanent pasture (land used for grazing animals such as cattle and sheep). [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2020 =]

GDP — composition, by sector of origin: agriculture: 24.4 percent (2016 est.)
industry: 19. 1 percent (2016 est.)
services: 56.5 percent (2017 est.)
Labor force; — by occupation: agriculture: 42.3 percent
industry: 22.6 percent
services: 35. 1 percent (FY2015 est.) =
Major agricultural and livestock products: cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; milk, beef, mutton, eggs, shrimp. =

Pakistan continues to have a largely agricultural economy. The Punjab produces a large portion of Pakistan’s food. The richest agricultural land in both India and Pakistan is in the Punjab, which means "five rivers," a reference to the five tributaries of the Indus River. There are also large tracts of agricultural land in the Sindh. Much if this land is heavily irrigated by the Indus River and iits tributaries.

Agriculture is one of the strongest and more resilient segments of the Pakistani economy except when disasters strike. According to official sources, agriculture, livestock, fishing, and forestry produced an estimated 23.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) for FY 2004. Employment in this sector has declined as other economic sectors have grown. Approximately 43.1 percent of the working population was employed in agriculture, forestry, and fishing in 2002, down from 48.3 percent in 1992, but still the largest proportion of the workforce among all economic sectors. [Source: Library of Congress, February 2005 **]

More than 40 percent of the working population is employed in agriculture, yet the per capita amount of agricultural land is declining, and there are significant natural limitations to increasing the quantity of arable land. According to official statistics for 2004, the country’s total land area is 79.6 million hectares, but only 59.3 million hectares have been surveyed. Out of the surveyed land area, 24.6 million hectares are classified as not available for cultivation, 3.6 million hectares are forest area, and 9.2 million hectares are unused but believed to be cultivable. Approximately 22 million hectares are used for cultivation, of which nearly 16 million hectares are actually sown, with the remainder left fallow. About 13.5 million hectares of the sown area are irrigated, and 6.5 million hectares are sown more than once per year. Most cultivable and irrigated land is located in the eastern provinces of Punjab and Sindh around the Indus River and its tributaries. Pakistan has an extensive but inefficient canal system for irrigation, and much of the crop area is rain fed, but precipitation tends to be unevenly distributed throughout the year. **

According to “Countries of the World and Their Leaders”: The most important crops are cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, fruits, and vegetables, which together account for more than 75 percent of the value of total crop output. Despite intensive farming practices, Pakistan remains a net food importer. Pakistan exports rice, fish, fruits, and vegetables and imports vegetable oil, wheat, cotton (net importer), pulses, and consumer foods. [Source: Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook 2009, Gale]

Farming in Pakistan

Pakistan has lots of sunshine. Irrigation provides water. Despite this agricultural productivity is relatively low in part because one third of all the farmers don't own land and they have trouble securing loans for machinery. Men have traditionally done the planting and sowing and women have done the harvesting and gathering.

Agricultural growth has averaged around 4 percent annually since independence, and from 1947 to 2003 total food crop production increased from 4.7 million tons to 25.9 million tons. The major crops are wheat, rice, sugarcane, and cotton. Because of the generally arid climate and low soil moisture, agricultural production relies heavily on irrigation, nearly all of which is found in the east, around the Indus River and its tributaries.

Although there is agricultural activity in all areas of Pakistan, most crops are grown in the Indus River plain in Punjab and Sindh. According to the “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations”: The development of a huge irrigation network covering two-thirds of the total cultivated area — together with massive land reclamation projects — has made possible the farming of vast tracts of previously barren and unusable land. The Indus Valley of Punjab is Pakistan's agricultural heartland. Grains constitute the most important food crops, with wheat, rice, corn, and citrus the major products. Cotton, the most important cash crop, generates more foreign trade income than any other export item. Rice, sugarcane, tobacco, rapeseed, and mustard are also large export earners.

According to “Worldmark Encyclopedia of National Economies”: Pakistan depends on one of the world's largest irrigation systems to support production. Cotton, rice, and sugarcane are produced during the kharif season, which lasts from May to November. Wheat is the major rabi crop, which extends from November to April. The key to a much-needed improvement of productivity lies in a more efficient use of resources, principally land and water. However, change is dependent on the large landowners who own 40 percent of the arable land and control most of the irrigation system, which makes widespread reform difficult. Assessments by independent agencies, including the World Bank, show these large landholdings to be very unproductive. Pakistan is a net importer of agricultural commodities. Annual imports total about US$2 billion and include wheat, edible oils, pulses, and consumer foods. [Source: “Worldmark Encyclopedia of National Economies”, The Gale Group Inc., 2002]

History of Pakistani Agriculture

Substantial agricultural growth began in the 1960s with the use of high-yielding crops, increased government prices for crops, and subsidies for irrigation water, fertilizer, and other inputs. By the 1980s, Pakistan had become a net exporter of food grains. However, by the 1990s cotton output had declined, and the country became a net importer of food grains as the rate of population growth continued to exceed the rate of agricultural growth. The country’s unfulfilled agricultural potential is often seen as the result of the domination of large landowners, deterioration in the irrigation network, soil degradation from fertilizers, and poor government investment in agricultural research. [Source: Library of Congress, February 2005 **]

According to “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations”: “To increase smallholders' equity and provide further incentives for agricultural improvement, the government decreed in 1959 that the maximum holding for any person should be 200 hectares (500 acres) of irrigated land or 400 hectares (1,000 acres) unirrigated. Land in excess of these amounts was acquired by the government and paid for in interest-bearing 30-year bonds. In March 1972, the maximum permissible size of a holding, measured in terms of production index units, was reduced by two-thirds, with the government empowered to confiscate without payment all excess land for free redistribution to landless peasants and small tenants. To help the new landowners, the government provided loans for purchase of seed, feed, and bullocks. In accordance with a statement of national agricultural policy issued in 1980, the Agricultural Price Commission was established to provide incentives to Pakistani farmers through higher prices for farm products. [Source: “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations”, Thomson Gale, 2007]

In the early 1990s agriculture, and small-scale forestry and fishing, contributed 25 percent of GDP and employed 48 percent of the labor force. The floods of September 1992 showed how vulnerable agriculture is to weather; agricultural production dropped dramatically in 1993. however. At that time the country was still far from realizing the large potential yield that the well-irrigated and fertile soil from the Indus irrigation system could produce. [Source: Peter Blood, Library of Congress, 1994]

According to “Countries of the World and Their Leaders”: “The economic importance of agriculture has declined since independence, when its share of GDP was around 53 percent. Following the poor harvest of 1993, the government introduced agriculture assistance policies, including increased support prices for many agricultural commodities and expanded availability of agricultural credit. From 1993 to 1997, real growth in the agricultural sector averaged 5.7 percent but declined to less than 3 percent in 2005. Agricultural reforms, including increased wheat and oilseed production, play a central role in the government's economic reform package. Heavy rains in 2005 provided the benefit of larger than average cotton, wheat, and rice crops, but also caused damage due to flooding and avalanches. [Source: Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook 2009, Gale]

Green Revolution in Pakistan

The Punjab in India and to a lesser degree in Pakistan was a major center of the “Green Revolution” in which crop yield were dramatically increased with the introduction of high-yield wheat supported by extensive irrigation, machines, fertilizers, grain storage facilities and pesticides.

The Green Revolution began in the 1960s when the Iowa-born plant scientist Norman Borlaug developed a hybrid strain of wheat that was much more productive than natural strains. Borlaug's "miracle wheat" allowed Mexico to triple its grain production in a few years. When the hybrid was introduced to South Asia in the mid-1960s, wheat yields there leapt 60 percent. New strains of rice and other grains followed. The United Nations Word Food program credited Borlaug, who died in 2009 at the age of 95, with saving more lives than any man in history. He received the Noble Peace Prize in 1970.

Rice production was increased dramatically after high-yield "miracle seeds" were introduced in 1966. Two of first miracle rice strains were called "Taichung Native One" and "Son of Taichung One" which matured in 114 days, making it theoretical possible to have three crops a year. Yields were also increased through crop rotations. In the Punjab, a main crop of wheat was grown from November to April along with smaller crop of sugar cane, oats and clover.

Some have argued that the whole Green Revolution has been a sham in part because it so dependent on petroleum-based fertilizer and thus was really more of an "oil revolution." Vandana Shiva, a nuclear physicist turned agronomist, told National Geographic, “I call it a monoculture of the mind. They just look at yields of wheat and rice, but overall the food basket is going down." There were 250 kinds of crops in the Punjab before the Green Revolution. Now mostly wheat is grown. Shiva argues that biologically-diverse farms can produce more food with less petroleum-based additions. Her research has shown that compost can be just as effective as a fertilizer and is more beneficial to the soil in the long run.

Producing massive amounts of grains like wheat degrades the soil. The land must be ploughed and cultivated each year and for long periods of time is bare, a situation that rarely occurs in nature. Stripped of its cover the soil's organic matter oxidizes, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. The addition of chemical fertilizers offers temporary relief for crops but the soil itself is weak and easily erodes away.

Land Reform in Pakistan

After independence the country's political leaders recognized the need for more equitable ownership of farmland and security of tenancy. In the early 1950s, provincial governments attempted to eliminate some of the absentee landlords or rent collectors, but they had little success in the face of strong opposition. Security of tenancy was also legislated in the provinces, but because of their dependent position, tenant farmers benefited only slightly. In fact, the reforms created an atmosphere of uncertainty in the countryside and intensified the animosity between wealthy landlords and small farmers and sharecroppers. [Source: Peter Blood, Library of Congress, 1994 *]

In January 1959, accepting the recommendations of a special commission on the subject, General Mohammad Ayub Khan's government issued new land reform regulations that aimed to boost agricultural output, promote social justice, and ensure security of tenure. A ceiling of about 200 hectares of irrigated land and 400 hectares of nonirrigated land was placed on individual ownership; compensation was paid to owners for land surrendered. Numerous exemptions, including title transfers to family members, limited the impact of the ceilings. Slightly fewer than 1 million hectares of land were surrendered, of which a little more than 250,000 hectares were sold to about 50,000 tenants. The land reform regulations made no serious attempt to break up large estates or to lessen the power or privileges of the landed elite. However, the measures attempted to provide some security of tenure to tenants, consolidate existing holdings, and prevent fragmentation of farm plots. An average holding of about five hectares was considered necessary for a family's subsistence, and a holding of about twenty to twenty-five hectares was pronounced as a desirable "economic" holding.*

In March 1972, the Bhutto government announced further land reform measures, which went into effect in 1973. The landownership ceiling was officially lowered to about five hectares of irrigated land and about twelve hectares of nonirrigated land; exceptions were in theory limited to an additional 20 percent of land for owners having tractors and tube wells. The ceiling could also be extended for poor-quality land. Owners of expropriated excess land received no compensation, and beneficiaries were not charged for land distributed. Official statistics showed that by 1977 only about 520,000 hectares had been surrendered, and nearly 285,000 hectares had been redistributed to about 71,000 farmers.*

The 1973 measure required landlords to pay all taxes, water charges, seed costs, and one-half of the cost of fertilizer and other inputs. It prohibited eviction of tenants as long as they cultivated the land, and it gave tenants first rights of purchase. Other regulations increased tenants' security of tenure and prescribed lower rent rates than had existed.*

In 1977 the Bhutto government further reduced ceilings on private ownership of farmland to about four hectares of irrigated land and about eight hectares of nonirrigated land. In an additional measure, agricultural income became taxable, although small farmers owning ten hectares or fewer — the majority of the farm population — were exempted. The military regime of Zia ul-Haq that ousted Bhutto neglected to implement these later reforms. Governments in the 1980s and early 1990s avoided significant land reform measures, perhaps because they drew much of their support from landowners in the countryside.*

Government policies designed to reduce the concentration of landownership had some effect, but their significance was difficult to measure because of limited data. In 1993 the most recent agricultural census was that of 1980, which was used to compare statistics with the agricultural census of 1960. Between 1960 and 1980, the number of farms declined by 17 percent and farms decreased in area by 4 percent, resulting in slightly larger farms. This decline in the number of farms was confined to marginal farms of two hectares or fewer, which in 1980 represented 34 percent of all farms, constituting 7 percent of the farm hectarage. At the other extreme, the number of very large farms of sixty hectares or more was 14,000 — both in 1960 and in 1980 — although the average size of the biggest farms was smaller in 1980. The number of farms between two and ten hectares increased during this time. Greater use of higher-yielding seeds requiring heavier applications of fertilizers, installations of private tube wells, and mechanization accounted for much of the shift away from very small farms toward mid-sized farms, as owners of the latter undertook cultivation instead of renting out part of their land. Observers believed that this trend had continued in the 1980s and early 1990s.*

In early 1994, land reform remained a controversial and complex issue. Large landowners retain their power over small farmers and tenants, especially in the interior of Sindh, which has a feudal agricultural establishment. Tenancy continues on a large-scale: one-third of Pakistan's farmers are tenant farmers, including almost one-half of the farmers in Sindh. Tenant farmers typically give almost 50 percent of what they produce to landlords. Fragmented holdings remain a substantial and widespread problem. Studies indicate that larger farms are usually less productive per hectare or unit of water than smaller ones.*

Land Use in Pakistan

More than 40 percent of the working population is employed in agriculture, yet the per capita amount of agricultural land is declining, and there are significant natural limitations to increasing the quantity of arable land. According to official statistics for 2004, the country’s total land area is 79.6 million hectares, but only 59.3 million hectares have been surveyed. Out of the surveyed land area, 24.6 million hectares are classified as not available for cultivation, 3.6 million hectares are forest area, and 9.2 million hectares are unused but believed to be cultivable. Approximately 22 million hectares are used for cultivation, of which nearly 16 million hectares are actually sown, with the remainder left fallow. About 13.5 million hectares of the sown area are irrigated, and 6.5 million hectares are sown more than once per year. Most cultivable and irrigated land is located in the eastern provinces of Punjab and Sindh around the Indus River and its tributaries. Pakistan has an extensive but inefficient canal system for irrigation, and much of the crop area is rain fed, but precipitation tends to be unevenly distributed throughout the year. [Source: Library of Congress, February 2005 **]

Pakistan's total land area is about 803,940 square kilometers. About 48 million hectares, or 60 percent, is often classified as unusable for forestry or agriculture consists mostly of deserts, mountain slopes, and urban settlements. Some authorities, however, include part of this area as agricultural land on the basis that it would support some livestock activity even though it is poor rangeland. Thus, estimates of grazing land vary widely — between 10 percent and 70 percent of the total area. A broad interpretation, for example, categorizes almost all of arid Balochistan as rangeland for foraging livestock. Government officials listed only 3 million hectares, largely in the north, as forested in FY 1992. About 21.9 million hectares were cultivated in FY 1992. Around 70 percent of the cropped area was in Punjab, followed by perhaps 20 percent in Sindh, less than 10 percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly North-West Frontier Province), and only 1 percent in Balochistan. [Source: Peter Blood, Library of Congress, 1994 *]

Since independence, the amount of cultivated land has increased by more than one-third. This expansion is largely the result of improvements in the irrigation system that make water available to additional plots. Substantial amounts of farmland have been lost to urbanization and waterlogging, but losses are more than compensated for by additions of new land. In the early 1990s, more irrigation projects were needed to increase the area of cultivated land.*

The scant rainfall over most of the country makes about 80 percent of cropping dependent on irrigation. Fewer than 4 million hectares of land, largely in northern Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly North-West Frontier Province), are totally dependent on rainfall. An additional 2 million hectares of land are under nonirrigated cropping, such as plantings on floodplains as the water recedes. Nonirrigated farming generally gives low yields, and although the technology exists to boost production substantially, it is expensive to use and not always readily available.*

Irrigation in Pakistan

Irrigation from the Indus River and its tributaries in Pakistan constitute the world's largest contiguous irrigation system, Irrigation is required for about 80 percent of the country’s farms. More than 15.7 million hectares (39 million acres) of land — an area the size of Illinois — is irrigated by network of 61,150 kilometers (38,000 miles) of canals, many of which are organized in straight lines and right angles across endless green plains of the Punjab. The Indus River system includes three major storage reservoirs and numerous barrages, headworks, canals, and distribution channels. There are over 1.6 million kilometers of farm and field ditches. [Source: Peter Blood, Library of Congress, 1994 *]

The Indus Valley, which is largely in Punjab and Sindh, is one of the most intensively irrigated places on earth. It is not surprise that most of irrigation in Pakistan is in the Punjab and the Sindh. The Nara and Rohri Canal in the Sukkar Barrage in the Sindh are longer and larger than either the Suez Canal or the Panama Canal and irrigate more than 2.5 million hectares.

Many irrigated farms existed before 1947. But many were built after independence. The government gave irrigation schemes a high priority in their development schemes. Ambitious irrigation programs have made of fifth of the country arable. Without irrigation Pakistan would dry up like a prune. Notable water and irrigation schemes include the Sukkar Barrage, the Lower Sindh Project, based on the Kotri Barrage (dam), and the Thal project, based on the Jinnah Barrage. Both are on the Indus River. Many of the canals were dug by hand.

History of Pakistan’s Irrigation Development

Partition placed portions of the Indus River and its tributaries under India's control, leading to prolonged disputes between India and Pakistan over the use of Indus waters. After nine years of negotiations and technical studies, the issue was resolved by the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960. After a ten-year transitional period, the treaty awarded India use of the waters of the main eastern tributaries in its territory — the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers. Pakistan received use of the waters of the Indus River and its western tributaries, the Jhelum and Chenab rivers. [Source: Peter Blood, Library of Congress, 1994 *]

After the treaty was signed, Pakistan began an extensive and rapid irrigation construction program, partly financed by the Indus Basin Development Fund of US$800 million contributed by various nations, including the United States, and administered by the World Bank. Several immense link canals were built to transfer water from western rivers to eastern Punjab to replace flows in eastern tributaries that India began to divert in accordance with the terms of the treaty. The Mangla Dam, on the Jhelum River, was completed in 1967. The dam provided the first significant water storage for the Indus irrigation system. The dam also contributes to flood control, to regulation of flows for some of the link canals, and to the country's energy supply. At the same time, additional construction was undertaken on barrages and canals.*

A second phase of irrigation expansion began in 1968, when a US$1.2 billion fund, also administered by the World Bank, was established. The key to this phase was the Tarbela Dam on the Indus River, which is the world's largest earth-filled dam. The dam, completed in the 1970s, reduced the destruction of periodic floods and in 1994 was a major hydroelectric generating source. Most important for agriculture, the dam increases water availability, particularly during low water, which usually comes at critical growing periods.*

Despite massive expansion in the irrigation system, many problems remain. The Indus irrigation system was designed to fit the availability of water in the rivers, to supply the largest area with minimum water needs, and to achieve these objectives at low operating costs with limited technical staff. This system design has resulted in low yields and low cropping intensity in the Indus River plain, averaging about one crop a year, whereas the climate and soils could reasonably permit an average of almost 1.5 crops a year if a more sophisticated irrigation network were in place. The urgent need in the 1960s and 1970s to increase crop production for domestic and export markets led to water flows well above designed capacities. Completion of the Mangla and Tarbela reservoirs, as well as improvements in other parts of the system, made larger water flows possible. In addition, the government began installing public tube wells that usually discharge into upper levels of the system to add to the available water. The higher water flows in parts of the system considerably exceed design capacities, creating stresses and risks of breaches. Nonetheless, many farmers, particularly those with smallholdings and those toward the end of watercourses, suffer because the supply of water is unreliable.*

The irrigation system represents a significant engineering achievement and provides water to the fields that account for 90 percent of agricultural production. Nonetheless, serious problems in the design of the irrigation system prevent achieving the highest potential agricultural output.*

Water Management in Pakistan

Water is distributed by federal irrigation and power authorities in accordance with various accords, established over the years, and monthly canal allotments. The system is taxed when there is prolonged drought.

Water management is based largely on objectives and operational procedures dating back many decades and is often inflexible and unresponsive to current needs for greater water use efficiency and high crop yields. Charges for water use do not meet operational and maintenance costs, even though rates more than doubled in the 1970s and were again increased in the 1980s. Partly because of its low cost, water is often wasted by farmers. [Source: Peter Blood, Library of Congress, 1994 *]

Good water management is not practiced by government officials, who often assume that investments in physical aspects of the system will automatically yield higher crop production. Government management of the system does not extend beyond the main distribution channels. After passing through these channels, water is directed onto the fields of individual farmers whose water rights are based on long-established social and legal codes. Groups of farmers voluntarily manage the watercourses between main distribution channels and their fields. In effect, the efficiency and effectiveness of water management relies on the way farmers use the system.*

The exact amounts of water wasted have not been determined, but studies suggest that losses are considerable and perhaps amount to one-half of the water entering the system. Part of the waste results from seepages in the delivery system. Even greater amounts are probably lost because farmers use water whenever their turn comes even if the water application is detrimental to their crops. The attitude among almost all farmers is that they should use water when available because it may not be available at the next scheduled turn. Moreover, farmers have little understanding of the most productive applications of water during crop-growing cycles because of the lack of research and extension services. As a result, improvements in the irrigation system have not raised yields and output as expected. Some experts believe that drastic changes are needed in government policies and the legal and institutional framework of water management if water use is to improve and that effective changes can result in very large gains in agricultural output.*

Drainage in Pakistan

One of the keys to good irrigation is good drainage and constant flushing. Without these measures sterilizing white salts grown on the soils which make it impossible to grow anything. The continuous expansion of the irrigation system over the past century significantly altered the hydrological balance of the Indus River basin. Seepage from the system and percolation from irrigated fields caused the water table to rise, reaching crisis conditions for a substantial area. Around 1900 the water table was usually more than sixteen meters below the surface of the Indus Plain. A 1981 survey found the water table to be within about three meters of the surface in more than one-half the cropped area in Sindh and more than one-third the area in Punjab. In some locations, the water table is much closer to the surface. Cropping is seriously affected over a wide area by poor drainage — waterlogging — and by accumulated salts in the soil. [Source: Peter Blood, Library of Congress, 1994 *]

Although some drainage was installed before World War II, little attention was paid to the growing waterlogging and salinity problems. In 1959 a salinity control and reclamation project was started in a limited area, based on public tube wells, to draw down the water table and leach out accumulated salts near the surface, using groundwater for irrigation. By the early 1980s, some thirty such projects had been started that when completed would irrigate nearly 6.3 million hectares. By 1993 the government had installed around 15,000 tube wells. Private farmers, however, had installed over 200,000 mostly small tube wells, mainly for irrigation purposes but also to lower the water table. Private wells probably pumped more than five times as much water as public wells.*

Officials were aware of the need for additional spending to prevent further deterioration of the existing situation. Emphasis in the 1980s and early 1990s was on rehabilitation and maintenance of existing canals and watercourses, on farm improvements on the farms themselves (including some land leveling to conserve water), and on drainage and salinity in priority areas. Emphasis was also placed on short-term projects, largely to improve the operation of the irrigation system in order to raise yields. Part of the funding would come from steady increases in water use fees; the intention is gradually to raise water charges to cover operation and maintenance costs. Considerable time and money are needed to realize the full potential of the irrigation system and bring it up to modern standards.*

Water Shortages and Disputes in Pakistan

Pakistan has a severe scarcity of water. In the future it will not have enough water to meet its projected minimum needs, and choices will have to be made on who shall get water: irrigation farmers or urban dwellers. Water saving technology includes irrigation equipment invented in Israel that drips water to individual plants at times when the plant needs them so no water is wasted. [Source: World Bank]

Water shortages are caused as much by population increases as water shortages. The population of the water-strapped Sindh alone grew from 6 million in 1947 to around 40 million in the early 2000s. Aquifers are being depleted from overuse. Water tables in the Punjab are plunging in part because of too many tube wells. Much of the underground water in the Sindh is saline.

Water is also a source of disputes. In Karachi and southern Sindh Province, riots have broken between police and people protesting water shortages, leaving behind smashed windows, overturned cars and dozens of injuries and arrests. For a long time no one cared about dry desolate plains around Land Kotal near the Khyber Pass. "Then a dam was built," said one villager, "and water came to the valley in a stream, and since there has been constant fighting." Diversion of water between India and both Pakistan and Bangladesh is a "chronic source of tension." See India.

So many canals and dams have been built on the Indus and it tributaries in the Punjab and Sindh that the Indus River carries no fresh water for 130 kilometers (80 miles) before it reaches the sea. Instead it is filled with salt water that flows in from the Arabian Sea. Millions of farmers have fallen into poverty because there is not enough water for their crops. Even drinking water is in short supply. Once thriving cattle-rasing and agricultural towns have become ghost towns.

Large demonstrations have been staged in the Sindh to protest “water robbery” from the Indus River in the Punjab. One farmer who received only enough water to grow crops on one acre of his 50 acre plot of land told the New York Times, “Punjab isn’t giving us water we are owed, and our lives are being destroyed. Of course we are angry at the Punjab.”

The Sindis are particularly outraged over the construction of the Greater Thal Canal in the Punjab which opened up 1.5 million acres of land to agriculture in the Punjab but has left the Sind drier than ever. Some Sindhis are so outraged they have called for the Sindh to secede from Pakistan.

Water Issues in the Sindh

According to the “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life”: “Access to adequate supplies of water, both for drinking and irrigation, remains a major problem in Sindh. The area is essentially desert, with precipitation averaging less than 8 inches a year, and the major source of water is the Indus River. However, the Punjabis seem to control most of the Indus water, and lack of water has provoked hundreds of angry demonstrations in Sindh, with farmers and politicians alike charging that "water robbery" has been committed by Punjab Province. Even the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), created by Pakistan after the 1960 Indus Basin Waters Treaty was signed with India, appears to be violating the 1945 Sind-Punjab agreement on water sharing, with total disregard for the lower riparian rights of Sindh. Virtually all of the crops grown in Sindh (rice, cotton and cereals) depend on irrigation, and when water is not available, they are lost. [Source: D. O. Lodrick “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life”, Cengage Learning, 2009 *]

“In addition to these economic losses, the reduced flows that characterize the River Indus as a result of water withdrawals in its Upper Basin, has resulted in severe water pollution. The river receives raw sewage from about 40 cities and hundreds of small towns and villages, untreated industrial wastewater from hundreds of industrial facilities, and irrigation returns from the millions of acres of agricultural lands spread along the riverbanks. Although it is attempting to reduce use because of health hazards, Pakistan still uses around 25,000 tons of chemical nutrients and pesticides in a year. With population growth and reduced water flows, Indus pollution is worsening. Levels of oxygen depleting organic contaminants from sewage, toxic compounds from industrial discharges, and pesticides and chemical nutrients from irrigation returns are increasing. Water borne diseases are on the rise. Many fish and other aquatic species have declined in number and diversity. If the situation is not reversed further water degradation will continue to occur, and its impact on aquatic life, public health, and other uses of water will be very significant. *\

“The lakes and wetlands of Sindh are being degraded at an alarming rate. The lakes in Sindh are an important source of drinking water, recreation, fish, edible vegetables that grow in them, and employment for many people. With the lower Indus basin receiving reduced flows, the lakes and wetlands of the Sindh are losing their inflow and slowly becoming polluted, and smaller ones are even drying out. Manochar, for instance, the largest lake in Sindh is a source of drinking water and irrigation, but has become a dumping ground for discharge from salinity outfalls originating in Punjab and Balochistan. Millions of people have been affected and thousands of Manochar fishermen have migrated to other areas of Pakistan. Furthermore, salt water intrusion into the plains of lower Sindh is directly related to the decrease of flow in the Indus River. Salt-water intrusion has been witnessed inland up to 100 kilometers (over 60 mi) north of the sea. *\

“In 2008, a breach appeared in the Rohri Canal at Tehsil, New Saeedabad, District Matiari, Sindh Province, resulting in heavy losses to local peasants, including damage to standing crops, houses, roads, bridges, water courses, and embankments. The breaches inundated many villages nearby and caused extensive damage to houses in the vicinity. The floods affected 90 percent of the population of 50 villages involving over 19,000 persons. Over 300 houses were destroyed completely, and over 2,000 hectares (c.5,000 acres) of cultivated land were inundated. The crops lost included both commercial and food staples, including rice. This was the third time in ten years that breaches occurred in this area, and the ministry of irrigation, which is responsible for checking the stability of the canal embankments on a regular basis, was tardy in providing assistance to the affected people. June 2007 saw torrential rains and flooding in Sindh Province as it was hit by cyclone "Yemyin." The latter left vast areas of the region flooded with several hundreds dead and missing and substantial collateral damage to houses, livestock, and crops. Such natural disasters are not unique. In January 2001, when Gujarat — to the east — was hit by a devastating earthquake, Sindh also experienced some deaths and significant damage to buildings. *\

Pashtun Agriculture

The Pashtuns (Pathans) are an ethnic group that live in western and southern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan and whose homeland is in the valleys of Hindu Kush. Agriculture, mostly grain farming, and animal husbandly, have been the traditional occupations of the Pashtun. Most agriculture is in irrigated plains in the Settled Areas. In low-yield agricultural areas the land is controlled by “malik” (petty chiefs and household elders). Where the land is more productive it is controlled by landlords known as khans (village and tribal chiefs). [Source: Akbar S. Ahmed with Paul Titus “Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 3: South Asia,” edited by Paul Hockings, 1996 |~|]

In Pakistan, on large estates owned by khan much of the work is done by tenants. The tenants, usually also Pashtuns, pay rent to the landlord and taxes to the Pakistan government. Tenants who only provide labor get about 20 percent of the crop. Those that supply animals and tools get more. Much of the work is done by hand and with animals. There is not much mechanization. Many areas used kareez system — a series of wells connected by an underground tunnel — for irrigation. These have increasingly been replaced by tube wells.

The main crop is wheat, followed by barely and maize. Fruits, nuts and vegetables are also produced. The orchard fruit is dried. Many used to grow opium and cannabis for hashish. The Pakistani government clamped down on the practice in the 1990s. Opium, cannabis, heroin and hashish production are still a big deal in Afghanistan.

Domesticated animals include fat-tailed and short-tailed sheep, goats, cattle, water buffalo, chickens, camels, donkeys and horses. There are still some nomads around. They are cattle herders and have traditionally followed set routes with designating camping and grazing areas. Nomads live on tents made of black goat’s hair and are supported by poles or arch poles and guy ropes.

According to the “Encyclopedia of World Cultures”: “Agriculture is largely limited by the rough terrain and arid climate to river valleys; elsewhere, it depends on the scant rainfall. Until early in the 20th century in the Swat and Mardan valleys the equality of the Pashtun clans was underlined by the custom of wesh by which they periodically redistributed land between themselves. This involved physically shifting households and belongings to other parts of the valleys.

Baloch Agriculture and Animal Herding

The Baloch, also know the Balochi, Baluch or Baluchi, are an ethnic group that live primarily in the sandy plains, deserts and barren mountains of southeast Iran, southwest Pakistan and southern Afghanistan. Baloch have traditionally herded camels, sheep and goats and practiced subsistence agriculture. Although the area where they live is quite harsh, they are able coax a surprisingly amount of food from the land, namely wheat, dates, wild fruits and vegetables. Baloch also raise dates for consumption and sale. Some of the world’s largest crop of dates are produced around Mand in Iran and along the southern Makran coast. The Zhob Valley, irrigated by an underground irrigation system, is known for its apple, peach and apricot orchards. The provincial capital of Quetta is set in a valley with apple orchards.

Land traditionally has not been owned by individuals but rather by subsections of tribes. The British introduced a system of land titles which was only used to title land in the names of tribal chiefs. In some places the karez system of irrigation is used. Cultivation is sometimes performed by special ethnic groups and castes such as the Persian-speaking Dehwards of Kalat. [Source: Nancy E. Gratton,“Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 3: South Asia,” edited by Paul Hockings, 1992 |~|]

Dryland farming is marginal, although it is a mainstay for many seminomadic herders. The Baloch plant drought-resistant grains in earthen embankments where scanty rainfall has accumulated. Irrigated farming is concentrated near oases in two kinds of systems: open channels that bring water from a few riverbeds, and subsurface drains (karez) that channel groundwater downward to planted fields. However, such irrigation and cultivation are extremely limited, forcing most Baloch to eke out a living by herding or farming in the marginal hinterland. [Source: Peter Blood, Library of Congress, 1994]

Sheep and goats are the main herd animals. Some herders raise cattle. Chickens may be raised as well. The herders typically consumes the dairy products these animals produce and sells the meat and wool. Pastoralists organize themselves around water sources; wells are the property of specific camps. The entire household participates in the work of tending the family's herd, but in other aspects of the economy there is a division of labor by sex: women work in groups to thresh and winnow the grain harvest, while plowing and planting are men's work. The gathering of wild foods, water, and firewood is done by groups of women. |~|

Karez Tunnels

Karez irrigation is used on the Quetta area and other places of Balochistan. One of the ancient world's great engineering feats, they are underground canals and boreholes used to carry water — from melted snow, springs and water tables under hills — from the highlands to farming areas. Some date back to the time of Alexander the Great.

Karez tunnels follow slopes down hill and are built underground so the water doesn't evaporate in the hot sun. From the sky they look like a long rows of gopher holes, giant anthills or donuts. These holes are outlets for vertical shafts that provide ventilation, and a means of excavating material. Dirt is piled around the entrances to prevent potentially-eroding rainwater from entering the system. Most of the holes are about 10 to 30 feet deep but some drop down almost 100 feet.

Karez tunnels have largely been dug by hand from head wells on high ground near the source of the water to places where the water is used. It is believed millions of hours of forced labor was needed to build them. The long, downward slopping tunnels were dug using the vertical holes to reach the underground tunnel from the surface.

Karez technology was imported from Persia (Iran), where the wells are called qanats. The tunnels have traditionally been communally owned, with villagers splitting the cost of building and maintaining them. Holes used to dig the tunnels are used by laborers today to reach the underground canals, which from time to time have to be cleared of dirt and rubble.

Digging the tunnels and maintaining the karez system is hard and dangerous work. The men who do the digging, repairing and cleaning have traditionally been highly skilled and well paid. To repair the tunnels workers climb down the entry shaft to the tunnels. There they clean out the tunnels and stabilize weak sections with ceramic hoops. The work is often done by lantern light in extremely cramped conditions— most of the tunnels are barely large enough for a man to crawl through.

Burusho Agriculture

The Bursusho, also known as Hunzakuts, are dominant ethnic group of the Hunza valley in far northern Pakistan. Burushos are not allowed to sell their land to outsiders. Parcels of land remain within the same family from generation to generation. One man said it "would be like selling his children." The land is nourished with irrigation canals carved centuries ago into the cliffs using ibex horns. The source of water is streams that spurt out of the bottoms of the glaciers.

The agricultural terraces used by the Burusho are held in place by stone retaining walls and nourished with a complex system of irrigation channels, A great amount of labor is required to keep the system maintained. Popular and birch trees have been planted to serve as shade trees. The land has traditionally been cultivated with wooden tools. Metal tools include iron-tipped plows, hoes, spades, shears and sickles. [Source: Hugh R. Page, Jr. “Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 3: South Asia,” edited by Paul Hockings, 1992]

Burushos produce potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, beans, peas, carrots, leafy vegetables, mulberries, apples, walnuts, almonds, plums, pears, cherries, grapes, millet, wheat, barely, rye, buckwheat, rices, spices, cucumbers. Tobacco and flax. They also raise small breeds of cattle, yaks, goats and sheep. Ducks, crows, golden eagles, vultures, pheasants, chickores (red-legged partridges), pigeons and doves are hunted. Cats are kept as pets.

There are orchards with mulberries, walnuts and apricots. After the harvest the fruit are dried on the roofs of houses. The dried fruit provide nourishment for the winter. Early spring, when dried apricot supplies run low has traditionally been a vulnerable time for the Burushos. Infant mortality rates have traditionally been much higher this time of the year than other times. The Burushos are very resourceful with their apricots. The pits are ground and fed to animals and the oil is extracted from the kernels and used for healing and as a skin moisturizer. The main cash crops are almonds and dried apricots.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (tourism.gov.pk), Official Gateway to the Government of Pakistan (pakistan.gov.pk), The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Wikipedia and various books, websites and other publications.

Last updated February 2022


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