Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T05:39:25.297Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Is Water-harvesting in Valley Floors a Viable Option for Increasing Cereal Production in Highland Balochistan, Pakistan?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

A. Rodríguez ,
N. A. Shah ,
M. Afzal ,
U. Mustafa  and
I. Ali
A. Rodríguez
Affiliation:
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), PO Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria
N. A. Shah
Affiliation:
Arid Zone Research Institute, Brewery Road, Quetta, Pakistan
M. Afzal
Affiliation:
Arid Zone Research Institute, Brewery Road, Quetta, Pakistan
U. Mustafa
Affiliation:
Arid Zone Research Institute, Brewery Road, Quetta, Pakistan
I. Ali
Affiliation:
Arid Zone Research Institute, Brewery Road, Quetta, Pakistan
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Preparation of small catchment areas on rainfed valley floor soils in highland Balochistan, Pakistan, is a low-cost method of generating run-off and increasing crop yields within the cropped areas. The effect of different proportions of water catchment area to cropped area were investigated by comparing a control treatment with the entire area planted to the crop (traditional rainfed agriculture); a 1:1 treatment, with one half of the area used for water catchment and one half for planting; and a 2:1 treatment, with two thirds of the area used for water catchment and one third for planting. Results from six seasons of trials using wheat (Triticum aestivum) showed that the 1:1 treatment had 23% higher net benefits than the control, with a 19% reduction in the coefficient of variation. The 2:1 treatment had 29% lower net benefits than the control and reduced the variation in net benefits by 8%. By contrast, four seasons of trials using barley (Hordeum vulgare) showed that the l: l treatment yielded 25% lower net benefits than the control but increased by 4% the variation in net benefits. Treatment 2:1 had 36% lower net benefits than the control and 18% more variation. Even though the gross revenue from wheat under the 1:1 treatment was less than that from the control, the reduction in total costs in the 1:1 treatment resulted in larger net benefits than the control. Water-harvesting in the valley floors is not a net yield-increasing technology. Land suitable for cultivation is limited and the increases in yields in the cropped area resulting from water-harvesting are offset by the opportunity costs of the catchment area. However, wheat grown in a 1:1 ratio of cropped to catchment area can increase farmers' income and decrease its variation. For barley, farmers are better off using their traditional management practice than giving up part of their cropped area to create water catchments.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 32 , Issue 3 , July 1996 , pp. 305 - 315
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

AZRI/ICARDA (1991). High Elevation Research in Pakistan. The MART/AZR Project Annual Report 1990. MART/AZR Research Report No. 65. Quetta: ICARDA.Google Scholar
Buzdar, N., Nagy, J. G., Sabir-Farid, G., Keatinge, J. D. H. & Mahmood, K. (1989). Rainfed agriculture in highland Balochistan: A Farming Systems Perspective. MART/AZR Research Report No. 54. Quetta: ICARDA.Google Scholar
Farid-Sabir, G., Afzal, M., Shah, N. A., Nagy, J. G., Keatinge, J. D. H. & Rodríguez, A. (1991). Camel survey results in highland Balochistan. MART/AZR Research Report No. 66. Quetta: ICARDA.Google Scholar
GOP (1992). Economic Survey 1991–92. Government of Pakistan Finance Division, Economic Adviser's Wing, Islamabad.Google Scholar
ICARDA (1989). High-elevation Research in Pakistan: The MART/AZR Project. In Annual Report for 1988. ICARDA 138-En., p. 38. Aleppo: ICARDA.Google Scholar
Khan, R. B., Thomson, E. F. & Rodríguez, A. (1993). AZRI research plans for 1992/93. In MARTIAZR Research Report No. 77. Quetta: ICARDA.Google Scholar
Kidd, C. H. R., Rees, D. J., Keatinge, J. D. H., Rehman, F., Samiullah, A. & Raza, S. H. (1988). Meteorological data analysis of Balochistan. In MARTIAZR Research Report No. 19. Quetta: ICARDA.Google Scholar
Masood, M. A., Afzal, M., Nagy, J. G. & Khan, S. M. (1987). Agricultural and related statistics of upland Balochistan. In MART/AZR Research Report No. 20. Quetta: ICARDA.Google Scholar
Nagy, J. G., Farid-Sabir, G., Shah, N. A., Afzal, M., Rees, D. J. & Keatinge, J. D. H. (1989). Barley production and its scope for improvement in the high elevation rainfed farming systems of Balochistan. In MART/AZR Research Report No. 26. Quetta: ICARDA.Google Scholar
Nagy, J. G. & Farid-Sabir, G. (1987). Household agricultural production systems survey results. In MART/AZR Research Report No. 7. Quetta: ICARDA.Google Scholar
Rees, D. J., Nagy, J. G., Raza, S. H., Mahmood, K., Chowdry, B. A. & Keatinge, J. D. H. (1987). The dryland arable farming system of upland Baluchistan: a case study. In MARTIAZR Research Report.No. 5. Quetta: ICARDA.Google Scholar
Rees, D. J., Samiullah, A., Islam, M., Qureshi, Z. & Raza, S. H. (1989 a). Rainfed crop production systems of upland Balochistan. I. Wheat (Triticum aestivum). In MARTIAZR Research Report No. 51. Quetta: ICARDA.Google Scholar
Rees, D. J., Islam, M., Rehman, F., Samiullah, A. & Raza, S. H. (1989 b). Rainfed crop production systems of upland Balochistan. 1. Barley (Hordeum vulgare). In MARTIAZR Research Report No. 52. Quetta: ICARDA.Google Scholar
Rees, D. J., Qureshi, Z. A., Mehmood, S. & Raza, S. H. (1991 a). Rain-fed crop production systems of upland Balochistan: wheat (Triticum aestivum), barley (Hordeum vulgare) and forage legumes (Vicia species). Experimental Agriculture 27:53–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rees, D. J., Qureshi, Z. A., Mehmood, S. & Raza, S. H. (1991 b). Catchment basin water harvesting as a means of improving the productivity of rain-fed land in upland Balochistan. journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 116:95–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodriguez, A., Shah, N. A., Afzal, M., Mustafa, U. & Ali, I. (1993). Economics of water-harvesting trials with cereal crops in highland Balochistan. In MART/AZR Research Report No. 78. Quetta: ICARDA.Google Scholar