Orchards, lush green agricultural fields on both sides of Nawabshah-Qazi Ahmed road, blossoming flowers of the mustard crop in patches and a lined portion of Rohri canal offer a breathtaking view on a December morning amid foggy conditions. Welcome to Shaheed Benazirabad district that is showing a trend for citrus cultivation, in addition to major crops and mango orchards, though somewhat slowly.

It is a district native to the indomitable Zardari family headed by Asif Ali Zardari, who served as the 11th president of Pakistan. Nawabshah was named after a leading figure of Sadaats of Nawabshah, Syed Nawab Shah. Syed Budhal Shah, his son, being a large landowner had donated 60 acres of land to the British government for construction of buildings of district and taluka offices free of cost. After the assassination of South Asia’s iconic politician and first Muslim woman prime minister Benazir Bhutto, its nomenclature was changed from Nawabshah to Benazirabad in her memory.

Mr Shah’s descendants including Junaid Shah were persuaded for this administrative change, however, given the family’s historical contribution the name of Nawabshah taluka was kept intact. Syeds live in their family home in midst of Nawabshah that had given birth to Naushahro Feroz as a separate district in the past. Nawabshah is home to communities and tribes like Zardaris, Buledis, Jamalis, Syeds, Jatois, Unnars, Dahiris, Pitafis, Pirzadas and others. Among them, many have large landholdings. Electoral politics revolved around them with the active assistance of smaller communities.

Nawabshah is considered the fastest-growing urban centre with 30 per cent urban population as per Census 2017 figures in four talukas.

Growers believe that citrus cultivation has the potential to replace mango orchard’s contractual farming if growers get market linkages and assistance

A lined portion of the perennial Rohri canal (which flows 12 months) and is considered to be a mini-Indus, runs parallel to the project at a considerable length. Benazirabad has lately become a separate and sixth division with Nawabshah as divisional headquarters, taking Benazirabad, Sanghar and Naushahro Feroz districts in its fold. It has four higher seats of learning — a medical, engineering, general and veterinary varsity.

The landscape of the agriculture sector here is quite rich in colour and strong in nature. The district — created in 1912 under the British Raj — is home to all three major crops: sugar cane, cotton and wheat. The fourth one, rice, is grown as well although it is banned. In terms of fruits, Benazirabad produces bananas and mangoes but what made it unique is the cultivation of citrus fruits — grapefruits, organs and lemons. It shows how nature has blessed this area with immense diversity in the farm sector.

Citrus cultivation, growers believe, has the potential to replace mango orchard’s contractual farming if growers get market linkages and assistance. Among citrus fruits, mosmi or mittha (a variety of orange) and grapefruit are showing encouraging results productivity and acreage wise. Over the

last several years, some growers have shown an inclination for growing citrus and progressive

grower, Syed Zain Shah, a native of Benazirabad district and grandson of G.M. Syed, is one of them.

Mr Zain Shah started citrus farming five years back and has gradually taken grapefruit’s acreage to 100 acres out of total orchard related landholding. “It yielded good results in terms of productivity. Even in terms of contractual offers, contractors give better rates when compared with mango orchard’s contract on an annual basis,” he says. “A grower having grapefruit cultivation can get Rs50,000 or so an acre more when compared with mango’s contractual farming.”

Under contractual farming, growers get fixed money known as maqata against over their farm under agreement for a certain period. “Climate suits grapefruits in Nawabshah, Qazi Ahmed, Daur and Sakrand,” he remarks. He feels growers are showing now interest and emulating him. He has put in plenty of effort in the past five years in citrus farming.

The district’s Sakrand taluka is considered to be the ‘centre’ point of Sindh, bifurcating its lower and upper regions. Given its climatic conditions, institutes or centres for these cotton and wheat crops were set up for research. “Our varieties like benazir-13 or imdad-5 are showing good results as far as per acre productivity is concerned. Another variety TD-1 is grown in areas of central Punjab,” points out Dr Karim Bux Leghari, director of Wheat Research Centre which has been working here since 1992.

Sukkur barrage’s second-largest Rohri canal feeds the Benazirabad district. Of the canal’s 16,500 cusecs discharge, according to the irrigation department, 4,243 cusecs are diverted to Benazirabad district for agriculture purposes, 2,915 cusecs for Nasrat and 1,328 cusecs for Dad division of Rohri canal.

Rohri was the only off-taking canal of Sukkur barrage whose around 20km length was lined in 2015-2016 in the Benazirabad district at a cost of Rs10.507 billion in two phases. Its third phase is said to be in process. The canal, however, faces the menace of direct outlets (DOs) like Nara and other canals. DOs obtained by the high and mighty destroy the flow regime of irrigation water but their flows go unchecked and are considered to be a leading cause of water-logging in certain areas.

Wheat acreage in 2021-22 season stands at 240,000 acres, sugarcane at 80,000 acres and cotton at 105,000 acres. Rice despite being a banned crop in left-bank areas of Sukkur and Guddu barrages is grown in Benazirabad. Its area was reported at around 13,500 acres. Besides major crops, veggies including onion, chillis and tomatoes were cultivated. Fodder crops including maize, millet and jawar were regularly grown crops here, accounting for a cumulative 6,500 acres. The agriculture department shows grapefruit’s acreage at 2,100 acres, banana at 16,500 acres, mango’s 8,500 acres and lemon at 2,600 acres.

Cotton production which has been showing a countrywide decline over the last several years is said to have witnessed a marked change in 2021-22 in cotton-producing districts of Sindh inclusive of Shaheed Benazirabad. Against last year’s production of 52,564 bales in 2020-21, the district is said to have produced 186,000 bales in 2021-22. Sindh’s total production this year is around 3.5 million bales against a target of 4m bales, according to cotton commissioner Muneer Ahmed Jumani.

The fiscal year 2009-10 was exceptional as Sindh grew 4.2m bales production against a target of 3.2m. Benazirabad achieved a 98pc acreage target of cotton sowing which was fixed at 60,000 hectares in that year. But average yields remains 15-16 maunds an acre. The same goes for sugarcane acreage and production figures insofar as Benazirabad is concerned, with the district contributing to 10.5pc in acreage and 10.5pc in production in 2016-17.

Benazirabad has four sugar factories, procuring sugarcane from Benazirabad and its adjoining districts as sugar cane cultivation emerged as a major crop in the recent past.

Benazirabad has one of the famous irrigated forests, Pai, stretching over around 4,700 acres. It has a notified game reserve of the Sindh Wildlife Department. The entire Pai forest area used to be riverine forests until the Sukkur barrage was built along with dykes’ construction on the right and left bank on Indus.

Sindh’s livestock department estimates Shaheed Benazirabad has a 5.45pc share in cattle and buffalo population as per 2018’s projected livestock population and 4.34pc in small animals including sheep and goats. And last but not least Benazirabad is also home to Naz Mukhtiar Dharejo — popularly known as Waderi Nazo — perhaps the only female grower from here — who was actively managing her farmland after fighting against her family members-turned-foes over agricultural lands.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, December 20th, 2021