DEVELOPMENTS OF STRETEGIC AGRICULTURAL GROWTH PLAN

(KHARIF CROPS) IN POTHWAR PLATU THHROUGH STUDY AT

RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION CENTER

PAKISTAN COUNCIL OF RESEARCH IN WARET RESOURCESES

ISLAMABAD
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACK GROUND
1.2 OBJECTIVE
1.3 STUDY AREA / LOCATION
1.4 SCOPE OF STUDY
Chapter 2 REVIEW OF RELATED MATERIAL
2.1 GENERAL/OVER VIEW
2.2 STUDIES ON CROP PRODUCTIVITY IN THE REGION
2.3 CROPIN PATTERN OF POTHWAR PLATEAU
2.4 EXISTING AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES
2.4.1 Farmer Social Conditions
2.4.2 Agricultural Land
2.4.3 Agricultural Practices
2.4.4 Crop Productivity
2.5 WATER AVAILABILITY
Chapter 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION CENTER
3.2 EXPERIMENTAL SET UP
3.4 DATA COLLECTION FORM AGRICULTURAL FIELDE
3.4.1 Crop Data
3.4.2 Surface Irrigation
3.4.3 Irrigation From Dams
3.4.4 Soil Conditions
3.4.5 Climatic Data
3.4.6 Tillage Practices
3.4.7 Pesticides
3.4.8 Harvesting
3.4.9 Crop Productions
Chapter 4 STRATEGIC AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES
4.1 FARMER VS EXPERIMENTAL FIELDS COMPARISON
4.1.1 Farmer Social Conditions
4.1.2 Cropping Pattern
4.1.3 Irrigation Practices
4.1.4 Pesticides Application
4.1.5 Harvesting Techniques
4.1.6 Crop Productivity And Quality
4.2 MAJOR FINDINGS
Chapter 5 RECOMMENDATIONS
 Chapter 1
Introduction:

Pothwar Plateau is a biggest dry land of Pakistan comprising an area of 2.2.

Mha. The major cities fall in the area are Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Talgung,
and Chakwal. There are six river systems (bsins) in the Plateau namely Soan
Basin, Harrow Basin, Kanshi Basin, Bunnah Basin, Kahan Basin and Reshi
Basin. The biggest Basin is Soan Basin comprising an area of more than
11000 sq km and almost covers more than 50% area of te plateau. The
agricultural practices are common through out six basins and th water
shortage/ deficiency is the key issue of the area farmers and is considered to
be the main hindrance of crop production and quality. The Agriculture
growth is the dynamic component of Agriculture main depends upon the
timely availability of water, soil properties and weather conditions etc. In
Pothwar plateau, although a huge amount of water i.e. 3.4 MAF out of the
averagely generated outflow of 3.5 MAF is passed away through rivers
unutilized for irrigation, fishing and domestic uses. The irrigation water is
supplied to the fields in the surrounding of dams through irrigation systems
but even the irrigation systems are restricted to the area slopes and generally
within 5 to 8 kms and water availability is even limited to the farmers in
winter. The land holdings of the area farmers are small and the distribution
of the water is not even possible. There is only the limited irrigation net
work in the Pothwar plateau. Generally, the medium land size holders which
don’t have excess to the dams are commonly having open wells. The water
availability is even limited in the open wells because the water table drops
even a working of limited time and takes hours to recharge again. The
supplement irrigation is also considered expensive in addition to its
availability by the farmers. Most of the farmers of the area depend upon the
rainfall and the agricultural production becomes dependent upon the
irrigation through rainfall. There is great potential of Agricultural growth in
the area by scheduling the supplement irrigation practices along with the
rainfall. Even the limited water availability along with moisture conversion,
tillage practices and timely sowing and harvesting may enhance the yield
and quality of crops.
In order to develop the strategic agricultural growth plan, the research has
been carried out at Research and Demonstration Centre Darkali Khalan,
Gujar Khan.