Agriculture in budget of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

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When it comes down to food

The budget of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa does not hold much for the agriculture sector

By Tahir Ali

http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/jul2011-weekly/nos-10-07-2011/pol1.htm#3

Agriculture sector in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has once again failed to elicit enough funds and attention from the provincial government in the budget.

Contrary to official claims that the new budget would be innovative in its outlook, an analysis of the annual strategy shows that it is yet another exercise characterised by meagre funding, phased allocation of funds that delays completion of projects for years and with overstretched plan of action that has no or negligible results.

Agriculture sector, which accounts to 25 percent of provincial gross domestic product and on which the livelihood of around 70 percent of its population depends directly or indirectly, requires an out of box solution, sufficient funds and their en-bloc release, and most of all commitment of provincial authorities whose indifference could be devastating for the sector after the 18th amendment.

The Chief Planning Officer of ministry of agriculture, Ahmad Said, informs agriculture Annual Development Programme (ADP) for 2011-12 has been prepared in the light of provincial agriculture policy 2005, horticulture policy 2009, and reconstruction priorities.

The total outlay of ADP has been increased by 15 percent from Rs69bn to Rs85bn. Allocation to agriculture and its related sectors has been increased from Rs1.175bn in the outgoing fiscal to Rs1.355bn for new fiscal but its share has decreased from 1.70 percent to 1.59 percent as percentage to the ADP. The ADP has 71 projects, including Rs0.849bn for 47 on-going and Rs0.505bn for 24 new schemes.

The whitepaper 2011-12, issued by the provincial finance department recently, says this year’s provincial ADP reflects higher priority to income generating sectors of economy, including agriculture. “Agriculture can easily attain the status of big industry in the province if proper care and patronage is given to it,” it argues.

For example, for five old and new schemes of agriculture mechanisation requiring Rs855mn, only Rs164mn are allocated. And for 37 old and new schemes in agriculture research that required Rs1040mn, only Rs243 have been earmarked for the coming year. Similarly, agriculture planning schemes have been provided only Rs21mn out of the total required Rs640mn.

For project distribution of cultivable land amongst landless farmers and agriculture graduates, which has a total outlay of Rs200mn, only Rs10mn have been allotted to the year, which means it will take years for the project to complete and benefit the farmers.

Again, only Rs1mn have been set aside for rehabilitation of germ-plasma units in Hazara division that involves Rs10mn in all. And for the establishment of the olive orchards in wasteland, another good intervention, only Rs10mn out of the total Rs60mn have been approved for the year.

Similarly, for a 2008 project of strengthening of planning and monitoring capacity of the agriculture department involving Rs15, only Rs3mn have been allotted while Rs5mn had been spent on the project. Can there be any better proof for half-hearted measures on the part of the government?

According to an official document, in the outgoing year, out of the total core ADP estimates of Rs69 billion, Rs45bn were released but actual expenditure stood at only Rs26bn. For the agriculture sector, over Rs1.22bn were released against the budget estimates of Rs1.175bn but only Rs0.67bn of these could be spent till 20th May, 2011.

Viewed in this backdrop, the amount to be spent on agriculture may be much less than allocated in the ADP. In the new ADP, there are 39 foreign-funded projects worth over Rs16bn but the agriculture sector has no projects in it like the outgoing fiscal. The government should have arranged research and development projects with the help of foreign donors to give a fillip to the under-performing sector.

Last year, the KP government had announced revival of cooperative bank and promised to provide Rs1 billion seed money for easy farm and non-farm loans to small farmers and rural women from the bank but actually onlyRs200mn were released. This year too, Rs400mn will be released. How can credit ratio be improved in this situation?

“The main problem confronting farmers is their poverty and costliness of agricultural inputs but there is no scheme to address the problem. The government should have announced an agriculture subsidy regime on its own or with the help of foreign donors,” says Haji Niamat Shah, a farmer. Despite these shortcomings, the annual agriculture roadmap of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is comprehensive and has something for each sub-sector.

According to Ahmad Said, lands that were washed away by floods would be rehabilitated and orchards would be established anew through free plants provision. “Another project for improving quality and increasing production of fruit plants through tissue culture technology has also been proposed. A public-private joint scheme for olive cultivation in areas where ordinary crops cannot be grown is being launched,” he adds. Subsidized inputs availability, weak coordination between farmers and government and wastage of on farm produce have gone unaddressed.

Growers fear Wheat seeds

KP growers fear severe wheat seed shortage

By Tahir Ali
Monday, 20 Sep, 2010

WITH the wheat sowing season to commence next month, farmers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa anticipate an acute shortage of seeds. They fear that if the issue is not tackled soon, it will severely damage the crop prospects.

They want the federal and provincial governments and the international community to come to the rescue of the badly hit growers for whom the coming Rabi crop constitutes a first step towards their ultimate rehabilitation.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has also warned that farmers in KP may not be able to plant wheat because of non-availability of quality seed and other needed inputs. Failure to provide time-critical inputs could reduce wheat yields, it fears.

Realising the potential seed shortage, the government has asked district agriculture officials to buy even the wheat meant for food.

“Normally wheat food grain is not utilised for sowing. But as seed shortage is feared, the director-general agricultural extension, KP, has asked all districts to buy as much of the commodity as possible,” says an official.

Though officials are confident there would be no shortage of seed, farmers fear its scarcity in coming weeks.

“Enough quantity and a robust system of distribution must be arranged in emergency,” said Niamat Shah Sawal Dher, general secretary of the Anjuman-e-Kashtkaran of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Shah feared that millions of acres of irrigated land may be left barren if seed was not arranged in time. “With the Pirsabaq’s seeds research farm, public seeds industry and private seed stocks having been mostly destroyed by floods, KP is almost certain to face wheat seed shortage. The government should quickly import standard certified seeds to fill the gap,” he said.

“There are also reports that the government wants to utilise food standard wheat as seeds in wake of shortage. This is not a right choice,” Shah added.

Murad Ali Khan, the president of the Kissan Board Pakistan, said “We will like the government to provide seed free of cost to flood-hit farmers.”

Muhammad Zahir Khan, a farmers’ leader, said Charsadda farmers have lost wheat seed stored in their homes. “The government and farmers organisations should sit together to chalk out a strategy as to what should be done to ensure a bumper wheat crop. Wheat sowing is at hand, but there is neither any compensation nor free seed or other inputs for the growers despite promises. I am worried how will farmers pay their agricultural debts, buy inputs and feed their families when they won’t be able to sow wheat,” she said.

Bakht Biland Khan, general secretary of Kissan Board, Swat, also asked for relief . “While we know Swat is not the only place to have been hit by flood but we do deserve more attention as we have been devastated first by militancy and then by floods. Swat farmers are mostly poor who own an acre of land and have no money to buy inputs. We deserve to be compensated for our losses and must be given free seed and money to buy farm inputs and reclaim our fields,” he said.

A senior official said: “We will shortly take up the issue with the federal government. The provincial food department has also enough wheat stock that can be used as seed. Private seed companies will also be procuring the commodity. We also intend to buy seed from Punjab and have already bought 2,000 tons of it. Though at present we have only a small quantity of the required seed, it is hoped that by the start of the wheat sowing season, the problem will be solved,” he added. But this, others fear, may not be the case.

The KP uses about 1.9 million acres for wheat cultivation. The provincial seeds industry provides 10 per cent of the total wheat seeds requirement of 80,000 metric tons to farmers.

This year the demand for wheat seed has increased. In the past, 70 per cent of the KP farmers used their own stock while the rest bought seeds. Now as floods have destroyed wheat stocks in Charasadda, Nowshera and the DIK and Lakki Marwat, the government will have to provide seeds to more farmers.

Recent flash floods have dealt severe blows to agriculture in Peshawar valley, Malakand division and southern parts of the province.

The FAO, provincial Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Settlement Authority and some local and international non-governmental organisations are planning to provide farm inputs to farmers on a limited scale. It means a large number of affected farmers will not benefit from the plan and will be left out.

Losses to agriculture in KP

Khyber Pkhtunkhwa
Extensive losses in agriculture and related sectors

By Tahir Ali

Rehabilitation of farmers and revival of agro-economy in post-flood Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) is unlikely to start soon as neither KPK itself has the fiscal space available with it nor the federal government and international community have provided it with the necessary funds required for the purpose.

Development and rehabilitation of agriculture is crucial to defeat terrorism and extremism in the region as over 80 per cent of the people depend on the sector directly or indirectly, for their income. Failure to ensure quick damage assessment and provide relief and reconstruction would be exploited by the militants who are always there to capitalize on the weaknesses of the government.

The devastating floods have inflicted losses amounting to billions of dollars on agriculture and its related sectors. According to preliminary estimates, the losses to the agriculture sector in crops, livestock and irrigation systems stand at Rs12 bn, Rs7 bn and Rs10.6 bn respectively.

The inundation of vast agricultural lands, destruction of irrigation channels and thousands of tonnes of ready-to-use seeds would not only impact crop production in the coming season but is likely to lead to food shortages and inflation.

The president of the Kisan Board Pakistan said that the flash-floods not only destroyed standing crops over an estimated 0.46 million acres of land in the province as well as horticulture, they also eroded the fields and made them uncultivable by excessive accumulation of mud and water. This soil erosion is likely to result in boundary feuds and legal fights on the fields causing a ban on farming thereon till the disposal of cases. It also means that the tilled and irrigated land in the province, which is 30 per cent of the cultivable land, might have decreased further which can have detrimental effects on agriculture in KPK. The destruction of irrigation infrastructure such as the Munda Headwork that irrigated around 0.3 mn acres of land is yet another blow.

The disruption in supply of vegetables and fruits to markets has resulted in food inflation. Tomatoes, potatoes, meat, fruit, wheat-flour and other food items have registered an increase of about 30 to 100 per cent. This price-hike will have highly negative fallouts for the majority of the poor if the government does not come to their rescue by increasing or maintaining the level of food subsidies.

An official from the irrigation department said that the losses to irrigation infrastructure in all the ten major canal systems in KPK amount to Rs10.6 bn. He said the department was trying its level best to do the necessary minor repair and cleanliness work to restore water availability within a month.

The secretary general of the KPK Chamber of Agriculture was of the opinion that the farms will have to be cleaned from the mud and leveled. For that the government will have to provide sufficient machinery and resources. That might not be an easy task keeping in view the fact that this would require enormous funds, machinery and personnel.

The floods have also damaged the vital livestock sector. An official said that floods have killed 0.15 million animals worth Rs7 bn. This loss is very troubling as the death of income generating livestock is not only perilous in that the farmers are deprived of their main source of income but it would also lead to shortages and price hike of animal-products like meat and milk.

An official in the KPK’s ministry of agriculture said, “KPK is a food deficient province which relies for over 3/4th of its food needs on Punjab and Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) which too is badly hit and may not be in a position to provide us the wheat we need. And the destruction of the maize crop and the expected drop in wheat cultivation will drastically hit the province and farmers financially. Commoners too would be impacted and will have to be saved from the food inflation.”

The wheat subsidy is Rs14.08 bn for this year. But it may have to be increased due to an almost certain drop in local wheat production and surge in the import bill of wheat.

As a short term measure, the government will have to ensure a speedy damage assessment and provide farmers with immediate relief so that they could prepare their fields themselves.

As a medium term measure, it should immediately restore the communication system, address the critical problem of demarcation and rehabilitation of fields and irrigation networks. For this purpose, the government must arrange for tractors and other field leveling machinery to the affected farmers. The escalating debt burden of farmers also needs immediate intervention. They also need to be provided free or subsidized agriculture inputs and fodder for their living animals. Agriculture loans of the farmers should be written off or at least interest thereon should be remitted. Easy farm and non-farm loans to small farmers to restart their businesses are also overdue.

As a long term measure, the government needs to better plan for the future, form a permanent and independent flood rehabilitation commission and construct small and large dams to absorb high river flows in future.

Formation of a credible and independent National Rehabilitation Commission to ensure transparency in the collection, management and distribution of relief and rehabilitation funds is the call of the hour.

It is high time that farmers in the flood-ravaged areas are exempted from malia and abiana and other taxes for a couple of years. Farmers in Charasdda, the worst-hit district, also urged the political administration for free provision of agricultural inputs for this year.

To cope with the catastrophe, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has asked for Rs10 bn for the time being from the federal government. The federal government should announce a big compensation and rehabilitation package for the flood-hit people, including farmers. The government will have to adopt simplicity to save funds for both relief and rehabilitation phases.

The flooding is “well timed” in that it occurred in Ramadan. In this month people whole heartedly support the poor and needy and this opportunity should be utilized to the maximum.

Fodder shortage

Shortage of quality livestock fodder

By Tahir Ali
(DAWN Monday, 31 May, 2010)

The shortage of cheaper and quality feed is forcing farmers to use maize and wheat plants as fodder for livestock in Khyber–Pakhtunkhwa.

“Fodder and feed availability is the basic need for healthy animals and for raising the income of farmers. But there has been no or little research in the vital area. There is no data available on the annual fodder needs, potential and production of the fodder crops in the province,” said an official of the livestock department.

The province has a favourable topography and environment for fodder production but its potential is yet to be utilised.

Because of the failure to develop high-yielding fodder varieties, un-ripened wheat and maize crops are used as fodder in different parts of the province since quite some time now.

Director General Livestock and Dairy Development Department Dr Sher Mohammad said the department was doing everything possible to develop high-yield fodder varieties.

“But the fact is that it has not been given due attention in the past not only at provincial but also at federal level. The government, farmers and department of agriculture have focused on cereal crops. Farmers in the province mainly use wheat hey, maize stem and sugarcane leaves for their animals,” he said.

According to Sher Muhammad, range management for communal grazing, promotion of high-yielding fodder crop varieties and development of wasteland of southern districts into pastures and grazing lands are some of the steps that need to be taken urgently.

“The only fodder research institute is in Faisalabad. There is a need to establish such institutes in every province,” he added.

Livestock gives direct and indirect jobs to millions of small farmers. In order to increase their incomes, the government should ensure provision of cheaper and quality fodder for their livestock.

The province, according to official estimates, is home to around six million cattle, two million buffaloes, 3.4 million sheep, 10 million goats and 21 million domestic poultry.

In Rabi 2007, the province produced about 1.4 million tons fodder of different varieties from 62,000 hectares. In Kharif 2008, the total fodder yield was recorded at 67,000 tons from 36,000 hectares.

The agriculture department has high-yielding fodder varieties, but their dissemination to farmers at grass root level is very slow.

The cattle breeding and dairy farm Harichand has produced numerous fodder varieties that can be sown both in Kharif and Rabi season. Some of them have great value for being good in taste, high yielding, multicut, perennial, and with great nutritious value.

“One of our varieties named Mott grass, has a per acre yield of 25 to 30 tons per cut and with four cuts its yearly yield comes to around 120 tons of grass. It has the potential to meet the fodder needs of farmers if disseminated in every corner of the province. More so it can be sown on banks of water channels and other unattended places,” another official said.

“Evergreen yields about 30 tons and has three cuts per annum. Rhodes grass yields about 60 tons per acre a year. Their seeds are provided to progressive farmers in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Fata at the start of their respective seasons,” he added.

“Turnip is not only a vegetable but can also be useful as fodder for animals. It has an average yield of 9 to 11 tons per acre. It is sown in October. Barseem yields about eight to 10 tons per acre. Sown in October and November, the crop has three cuts per year and could be healthy addition in to the fodder varieties. Bean or Lobia is also another potential fodder variety that has an average yield of around eight tons,” said the official.

According to another official, the department has started a programme of sowing of high-yielding fodder crops through public-private partnership in Nowshera.

“Technical advice is provided to farmers. Also, certified seed of fodder crops is given to farmers provided they would return it after harvest.”

“Development of high-yielding varieties of fodder crops by the public research institutes must be ensured. Grass nurseries can be developed in hilly areas in summer and in the plain in winter for meeting the fodder needs of the animals,” said a Swabi-based farmer.

The hybrid maize seeds that have been recently developed by local scientists at the cereal crops research centre Nowshera can help achieve the objective. When their crops ripen, the

Wheat procurement in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa

Direct wheat procurement

By Tahir Ali

(DAWN, Monday, 03 May, 2010)

THE delayed and lacklustre wheat procurement drive by Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa has left growers at the mercy of middlemen/wheat traders forcing them to sell their produce at rates lower than the procurement price of Rs950/40kg.

Farmers complain that wheat prices have declined in recent days and growers prefer to sell their commodity at public procurement centres. They want the government to make vigorous effort to purchase wheat directly from growers.

Haji Niamat Shah, senior vice-president of the Anjuman-e-Kashtkaran, KPK, was surprised that despite reduced prospects for a bumper wheat crop that should have triggered a price-hike, the commodity price was falling. “The lack of government’s enthusiasm to procure wheat this year is very troubling. It will expose farmers to private profiteers, deprive them of a fair price and discourage them from cultivating wheat the next year,” he said.

Officials said the government had a strategy to purchase the entire marketable surplus of quality wheat from farmers. “To meet the 0.3 million tons procurement target, the provincial government has initially ordered for one million gunny bags as it is unlikely to meet the target for various reasons,” said an official.“Reluctance of farmers to sell their crop, shortage of public procurement centres and lack of storage facilities generally hamper government attempts to meet annual wheat procurement targets,” he added.

Basher Badshah, a wheat grower, said smuggling to Afghanistan would have to be stopped and the procurement/payment process to be facilitated, if the government wanted to procure sufficient wheat.

Last year too, it was the same target but only 0.09 million tons of wheat was procured.

The official said 0.3 million metric tons of wheat at a cost of about Rs7.1 billion will be directly procured from the cultivators this year. “The Khyber Bank and the First Women Bank Limited have agreed to lend Rs3bn and Rs2bn at KBOR +two per cent to finance the procurement drive. Rest of the money will be provided by the account of the provincial food department or if needed, will be obtained from banks.

“This direct procurement will help save about Rs1.8 billion. We had saved Rs540million last year by purchasing around 90,000 tons directly from farmers. This saving will ultimately benefit the end-consumers,” the official added.

Due to lower production and procurement, the province is dependent for over 3/4th of its annual wheat requirements of over three million tons on Passco, Punjab government or imports.

This insufficient production is a financial burden on the provincial exchequer on purchase, transportation and subsidy of wheat. Total annual wheat procurement of around 2.5 million tons for the year will cost about Rs5.9 billion while the incidentals alone for it would be around Rs1.6 billion, official documents reveal.

In the financial year 2008-09, the province had incurred a subsidy of over Rs10 billion with Rs2.6 billion of subsidy on indigenous and Rs7.7 billion of subsidy on imported wheat.

“The province should grow more food, for which, it would have to increase wheat acreage, develop high-yielding seeds and mechanise agriculture. The land under wheat is around one fifth of the total cultivable land,” said Manzoor Ahmad, a farmer.

According to Shah Zeb Khan, another farmer, there should be more procurement centres. “The procurement mechanism should be made easy. If possible, farmers should be approached for wheat deals. Farmers’ bodies should be involved in the process,” he said.

Another farmer said many preferred to sell their produce to private buyers for easy and swift payments though they had to sell it at four to five per cent lower rates. He alleged that the food department purchased wheat mainly from these middlemen.

Inadequate storage capacity is also likely to hamper procurement. The food department has a storage capacity of about 0.38 million tons which is less than the required.

“Modern silos can reduce dependence on gunny bags because grains can be stored in bulk quantity. The government must construct modern silos and build godowns to augment existing storage capacity,” said Ahmad.