Sheikhupura is famous for its quality rice and historical places. The city itself was founded by Moghul Emperor Jahangir more than four centuries ago in 1607, and made district headquarters exactly a century ago (in 1922),

Named then as Jahangirpura, with the status of a royal hunting ground, it was later renamed as Sheikhupura after Emperor Jahangir’s nickname ‘Sheikhu’ given to him by his mother. The district houses some historically significant sites including Sheikhupura Fort, Hiran Minar, mausoleum of Waris Shah at Jandiala Sher Khan, and the National Marian Shrine visited by Christians each year. Until 2005, Janam Asthan Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of the founder of Sikh religion Baba Guru Nanak, was also part of it before it was made a separate district.

The Sheikhupura Fort built on the orders of Emperor Jahangir is now in a dilapidated condition and in dire need of maintenance. Foreign aid for restoring the glory of the historical site, which also houses a Kangra-style haveli built for Rani Dalat Kaur, wife of Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjeet Singh, could not be utilized thanks to a tussle between the then federal and provincial governments on their respective roles in the project a few years ago. Hiran Minar along with a baradari was also built by the Moghul emperor, as per Tuzk-i-Jahangiri, in the memory of a royal loved one.

Having a population of over 3.5 million, the district is spread on 0.864 acres of land encircled by seven Pakistani Punjab and one Indian Punjab (Amritsar) districts. Being a part of Rachna doab (two rivers – Ravi and Chenab), and with a good annual rainfall as well as sweet subsoil water, the district is fertile enough to cultivate all kinds of crops, vegetables and fruits.

It produces around 10 per cent of the total aromatic Basmati rice in Punjab. Other major crops include wheat and fodder (mostly berseem), while maize, potato and sugarcane are also planted once on a large area. Moong pulse and cotton also used to be sown on a couple of thousands of acres but these were eliminated three years ago.

‘Development of multiple housing societies, particularly in Ferozewala, Sharaqpur and Muridke tehsils, along the Grand Trunk (GT) Road and vast tracks of land occupied by various public and private sector universities have eroded the greenery of the district’

An interesting aspect of Sheikhupura’s agriculture is that almost all of the crops have been losing their acreage during the last 30 years, reveals the data of the Punjab Crop Reporting Service. For instance, wheat had been sown on 628,000 acres back in 1990 and touched its peak of 760,000 acres in 2004 when it began losing its sheen due to multiple factors. Wheat acreage declined to 495,000 acres in 2020. The area under paddy crop also shrank from 530,000 acres to 484,000 acres, while that of fodder was almost halved from 111,100 acres to 58,900 acres during this period. Maize, sugarcane and potato are also no exception as their acreage dropped to 8,900 acres, 4,000 acres and 6,150 acres from 35,100 acres, 54,800 acres and 11,070 acres, respectively.

The Agriculture Department blames large scale urbanization and commercialization of vast tracts of lands in the district for the gradual decline in crop area. “Development of multiple housing societies acquiring of thousands of acres of lands, particularly in Ferozewala, Sharaqpur and Muridke tehsils, along the Grand Trunk (GT) Road and huge tracks of land occupied by various public and private sector universities have eroded the greenery of the district,” bemoans Khalid Khan, deputy director of Agriculture (extension), Sheikhupura. Likewise, thousands of acres of land have also come under various road projects as three motorways- Lahore-Islamabad, Lahore-Multan, and Lahore-Sialkot- pass through the district, whereas headquarters of a paramilitary force is also being constructed besides the shifting of Lahore’s Walton airport to Muridke, points out Abdul Aziz, a local farmer.

Mr Khan says the increasing urbanization is also changing the priorities of the farmers as they are becoming interested in growing vegetables to meet needs of three nearby urban centres- Sheikhupura, Gujranwala and Lahore- as they promise more profit than crops. So far, around 20,000 acres of land are being used for growing vegetables, while at least 35,000 acres have come under guava orchards particularly in Sharaqpur tehsil, he adds. Sharaqpuri guava has its unique taste like that of citrus of Sargodha, though the two fruits are grown in other areas too. Guava trees had, however, been hit by a disease a few years ago that caused the plants to dry within a year.

Chaudhry Zakaullah, owner of a large guava farm, says symptoms of the disease would appear in the month of August with the drying up of branches of trees and the menace continued for about five years. He says experts from the Agriculture Department as well as Faisalabad Agriculture University had been visiting the area, including his farm, to diagnose the disease and recommend a remedy. The problem, however, was resolved by nature on its own after a few years, he claims.

Some young progressive farmers are also experimenting with inter-cropping to introduce a new farming trend for optimal utilization of the natural resources. Salahuddin Aulakh, who also runs an unregistered cooperative of about 200 farmers, says he, along with a few friends in the cooperative, has sown tomato and onions in a 30-acre sugarcane field on an experimental basis and has successfully harvested the two vegetables recovering all the expenses. For sugarcane, the bonus, will be reaped in the coming cane crushing season that will set in the month of November. He says that management of the Pasrur Sugar Mills, located in adjacent Sialkot district, is currently in talks with him and other cane growers to make an advance payment to book the sugarcane crop. The mill has recently restarted its operations after a closure of many years and is going for contract farming to ensure supplies of its raw material.

The district is also rich in livestock. There are 840,286 large animals, 249,689 small animals and around 304,000 poultry. Sahiwal, Desi cross breed, Pure Holstein and Jersey are the breeds in cattle, while mostly buffaloes are of Nili Ravi breed. Beetal is the popular progeny of goats, while sheep mainly belong to the Lohi breed. Industrial sector in the district is as important as agriculture.

Like its neighbours Lahore, Gujranwala, and Sialkot, it is home to a variety of industries that includes fertilizer, chemicals, polyester fiber/yarn and rayon yarn, tractor and motor cycle assembling, electric domestic appliances, tyres and tubes (trucks, buses, cars and light vehicles), ceramics, electrical goods, pharmaceutical, cotton/woolen textile, paper and paper board. There are at least 25 auto-assembling and auto-parts making units, 150 textile mills, 51 paper and board making units, 15 ghee/oil mills, 93 rice mills and 23 flour mills.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, July 12th, 2021