Farmers in Sindh will be in a comfortable position with regards to the timely availability of water — a key farm input — for the early sowing of kharif crops, according to figures released by the Indus River System Authority.

The early kharif crops in lower Sindh include cotton, paddy and sugarcane, which are sower in April and May. The sowing of paddy starts in May ideally in upper Sindh if the water flows are adequate and released on time. The water flows were not adequate in the entire province last year. This year, the situation would be quite encouraging if the ground realities match the authorities’ claims.

As of April 6, 12,856 cusecs of water were released downstream Kotri and a flow of 30,126 cusecs upstream was recorded, against zero releases and 7,735 cusecs upstream flow respectively in the corresponding period of 2014.

A Sukkur Barrage official, who monitors water availability up and downstream Indus, is optimistic that the availability of water would be enough to meet growers’ needs this year.

He has a reason to be optimistic. “The current figures of water storage in Tarbela (which mainly supplies water to Sindh) — at 1455.87ft on April 6, against 1415.69ft in corresponding month last year — are encouraging. Mangla’s storage was 1152ft, against last year’s 1135.20ft,” he said.

The sowing of cotton has started and paddy nurseries are being prepared in the command areas of Kotri Barrage

He added that in the absence of rains in the catchment of the Indus and its tributaries, Sindh remains dependent on storages, even though it is not getting a drop from Mangla. It appears that even if there are no rains, the storages would be sufficient to meet the need for the next two months. Then, the monsoon season would start to eventually improve the water flows.

The sowing of cotton has started, and paddy nurseries are being prepared in the command areas of Kotri Barrage. A paddy producer, Gada Hussain Mahesar, believes that the acreage of rice might increase due to the serious setback to farmers in the sugarcane crop owing to the prolonged controversy between millers and growers over its price.

The sowing targets for paddy and cotton have not yet been fixed by the agriculture department despite the commencement of the season, normally expected by mid- or end-March. An agriculture officer guessed that the targets might remain unchanged from last year. But its timely announcement is as important as the timely provision of water.

During last year’s summer crop season, cotton’s sowing target was fixed at 650,000 hectares. The target, as per agriculture department figures, was missed by 8.3pc, as 596,208 hectares were brought under cultivation. But paddy’s sowing target was surpassed by 11.7pc last year, when it was sown on 781,679 hectares against the target of 700,000 hectares.

Around 9,750 metric tonnes of certified seed will be required for cotton sowing if last year’s target is adopted. As per Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department (FSC&RD) figures, 3,296 metric tonnes of seed (33.8pc of the total requirement) would be available. BT cotton is also sown in Sindh and its seed is provided by seed companies, though amidst complaints of adulteration.

Similarly, 37,500 metric tonnes of certified seed is needed for to cultivate paddy on 750,000 hectares. And 20pc of this — 7,500 metric tonnes — is to be provided by public sector organisations, but the actual availability would be around 5,512 metric tonnes or 14.7pc of the total requirement. Paddy growers usually go for hybrid seed for higher yield, in addition to coarser varieties.

Sindh Chamber of Agriculture general secretary Nabi Bux Sathio says the average yield is bound to improve with the timely availability of irrigation water.

“It means we will have timely sowing and timely harvesting of cotton, paddy and sugarcane. If there are monsoon rains, the crops will either be at the harvesting stage or be able to sustain them, and growers would then prepare for timely sowing of rabi crops.”

Fertiliser is yet another important farm input. Out of the total domestic availability (worked out by the National Fertiliser Development Centre), Sindh gets its share on the basis of the size of its population, i.e. 23pc, according to a provincial agriculture official.

Of the country’s likely total offtake of 2.9m metric tonnes by September, 2.736m metric tonnes would be available from domestic production, with the shortfall being met from imports.

Meanwhile, as kharif sowing has begun, farmers’ cries against inadequate prices of major crops — cotton, rice and wheat — continue unabated.

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, April 13th, 2015

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