Report No. R41.2 PILOT PROJECT M)R FARMER-MANAGED IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE UNDER THE LEFT BANK OUTFALL DRAIN STAGE I PROJECT, PAKISTAN t ' I \\ %\ $\ .. "+,. : + r - % ,r .__ . . i PRELIMINARY BUSINESS PLAN For BAREJI DISTRIBUTARY by Mohammad Nadeem Khanzada Mohsin Khatri Syed Daniyal Haider December 1997 PAKISTAN NATIONAL PROCRAM INTERNATIONAL IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE, LAHORE TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................................. ..... v FOREWORD ................................................................................................................ ............................. vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................ ir 1 DESCRIPTION OF BAREJI DISTRIBUTARY .- ................................... ....................................... 1 1.1 LOCATION .......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 1.2. I Sukkur Barrage ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.2.2 Nara Canal ... ..................................................................................................................... 2 I . 2.3 Jamrao Cana ..................................................................................................................... 2 1.2.4 West Branch Canal .................................................................................................................. 2 1.2.5 Subdivisions ofJamrao Canal ............................................... .......................................... 3 1.2.6 Mirpurkhas Sub-division . ....... : ..................................................................... 3 1.2.7 Location of Divisional Ogice ......................................... ................................................. 4 1.2.8 Location of Sub-divisional OBce .... ................................................. 4 Imgation Personnel involved in Bareji Distributary .............................................................. 4 1.3 PHYSlCAL CHARACTERISTICS OF BAWI DISTRIBUTARY .................................................................. 5 1.4 SoClO-ECONOMIC cONDlTlON ........................................................................................................... 5 1.4. I Population ................................................. ................................................................. 5 1.4.2 Major Communities ................................................................................................... '. ............. 5 1.4.3 Cultivators and their Status ..................................................................................................... 5 1.4.4 Educational L . m l .................................................................................................................... 6 1.4.5 Rural Indebtedness ................................................................................................................. 6 1.4.6 1.4.7 Major Cropsand Crop Zones .................................................................................................. 7 1.4.8 Su$ace Irrigation Methods and Practices .............................................................................. 7 1.4.8.1 Basin Irrigation .................................................................................................................................. 7 1.4.8.2 Furrow Irrigation ............................................................................................................................... 7 1.4.9 Soil Physical Properties .......................................................................................................... 8 1.4.10 Climate .................................................................................................................................... 8 1.4.11 Wambandi ............................................................................................................................... 8 1.4. I2 Loan and Credit Facilily ......................................................................................................... 9 1.4.13 Role of Water Users Organizations /Farmer Organizations .................................................. 9 1.5 DRAINAGE SYSTEM ......................................................................................................................... 10 1.5.1 SurfoceDrainage .................................................................................................................. 10 1.5.2 SubsurfaceDrains ................................................................................................................. 11 1.5.3 Effect of Tile Drainage System on Crop Yield. Cropped Area and Net Income .................... 1 1 1.5.4 Water Table Depth ................................................................................................................ 12 1.5.5 Effect of Water Table Depth on Crop Yields ......................................................................... 12 1.5.6 Groundwater Qualiry .................................................................................................... : ....... 13 1.5.7 Fanners' Perceptions about DrainageSystem ...................................................................... 13 CURRENT FINANCIAL SITUATION .......................................... """" ....................... .- ............... 15 2.1 SOURCE OF INCOME ........................................................................................................................ 15 2 .I . I Abiana ................................................................................................................................... 15 2.1.2 LondTax ......................................................... .................................................................. 15 ............................................................................................................................... 16 2.1.4 Other Taxes (Local Cess) ...................................................................................................... 17 2.1.5 Agriculture Tax ...................................................................................................................... 17 TAX ASSESSMENT AND TAX COLLECT~ON PRoCEDU RE .................................................................... 18 2.3 EXPENDITURES ................................................................................................................................ 18 History of the Bareji Distributary ........................................................................................... 1 1.2.9 . . LandHoldingSize ........................................................................................ : ....................... 6 2 2.2 i Preliminary Business Plan for Bareji Distributary .. 11 2.4 OPERATION A N D ~ I N T E N A N C E ..................................................................................................... 19 Current Irrigation operation and Maintenance .................................................................... 19 3.1 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................. 21 Infomation &llec&on CYoppinglntensities at Direrent Intervals ................................... 21 Dofa Collectbn in the Field .................................................................................................. 24 Major Observations During Data Collection ........................................................................ 25 FARM REVENUE ANALYSIS .............................................................................................................. 25 Land Considered as Aflected Due to Waterlogging. Salini@ and Other Reaso ns ................. 27 2.4.1 Operation ............................................................................. ................................. 19 2.4.2 Maintenance .................................................................. ..................................................... 19 2.4.3 FARM INCOME ANALYSIS I ....................................................................................... "" "........ 21 .. 3 3.1.1 Cropping and cropping Paltern -Importance ....................................................... 21 3.1.3 FamReyenueandFamExpr?m ....................................................................................... 22 3.1.2 3 1 3.3 JUSTIF~CATION OF &VIEW OpTm &ISTMG DATA ....................................................................... 22 DATA E m y AND DATA COLLEC~OF~ MmOmLOOY ................................................................. 23 3.3.1 3.3.2 3.4.1 Fann-gate hice 26 3.4 .................................................................................................................... 3.4.2 3.4.3 3.4.4 Co[le&m of Fam-gate Price Process Evolved ................................................................... 26 Col[ecrion ofcrop yield Process Evolved ............................................................................. 27 ........................................................................... 3.5 FARM LAND REVENUE OF BAWI DISTR~BUTARY 28 3.6 FARM EXPEND~NRE ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................... 33 3.7.1 Seed ....................................................................................................................................... 34 3.7.1.1 Conon .............................................................................................................................................. 34 3.7.1.2 Wheat .......... ............................................................................................................................... 35 3.7.1.3 Rice .............. ............................................................................................................................... 35 3.7.1.4 Sugarcane .................................................................................................................... .................... 35 3.7.1.5 Chilies .............................................................................................................................................. 35 3.7.1.6 Onion ............................................................................................................................................... 35 3.7.2.1 Manure ............................................................................................................................................ 35 3.7 CLASSlFlCATlON OF FARM INPUT3 ................................................................................... ...............34 . . 3.7.2 Fertzluer ................................................................................................................................ 35 3.7.2.2 G m Manuring .............................................................................................................................. 36 3.7.2.3 Chemical pa^,^ .......................................................................................................................... 36 3.7.3 Pesticides ................................................................................................................................ 37 . . 3.7.4 Machinery Rentals ........................................................................................... : ..................... 37 3.7.4.1 LandPrrparation ............................................................................................................................. 37 3.7.4.2 Disc Plow (GOBAL) ....................................................................................................................... 37 3.7.4.3 Cultivators ....................................................................................................................................... 37 3.7.4.5 3.7.4.4 Levelers (Keen) ............................................................................................................................... 38 Spraying MW hines .......................................................................................................................... 38 3.7.4.6 Thresher ........................................................................................................................................... 38 3.7.5 Lobor for Agriculture ............................................................................................. 3.7.6 Classifcation ofLabor .................................... ................................................................. 38 3.7.6.1 Tenant .............................................................................................................................................. 38 3.7.6.2 Kamdar ............................................................................................................................................ 38 3.7.6.3 Family Labor ................................................................................................................................... 39 3.7.6.4 Casual Labor .................................................................................................................................... 39 'Tares to Government ............................................................................................................. 39 FARM LAND EXPENDITURE OF BARFJI DISTR~BUTARY ................................................................... 39 3.7.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 CALCULATION OFABIANA, USHER ANDTAXES PAYABLE IN BAWI DISTRIBUTARY ........................ 41 CALCULATlON OF FARM INCOME IN BARFJI DISTRIBUTARY ....................................................... 42 NEED FOR A BUSINESS PLAN FOR BAREn DISTRIBUTARY ............................................. 47 4.1 COUNTRY SETFINO .......................................................................................................................... 47 4.2 POLICY REVIEW ............................................................................................................................... 47 4.3 A FRAMEWORK FOR REWRMS ........................................................................................................ 47 4.4 CURRENT STATUS ............................................................................................................................ 48 4.5 CURRENT EXPENDITUREON IRRIGATION INFRASTRUCTURE BY THE GOs ....................................... 50 4 ... Table of Contents 111 5 ORGANIZATIONAL AND OPERATIONAL COSTS OF B A W DISTRIBUTARY WATER USERS FEDERATION.. .. __,_I ........................................................................................... .... 57 LEVY OF ABIANA MECHANISM ON MEMBE ~s ................................................................................... 57 5.1. I ............................... 59 SUPERVISION OF THE STAFF HI REo .................................................................................................. 59 5.2. I Establishment Cost of Bareji Distributary ............. ......................................................... 62 MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT CQSTS OF BARFJI DISTRIBUTARY ........................................... 63 5.3.1 5.3.2 5.1 5.2 Suggested Mechanism for the Levy oJAbiana .............. 5.3 Operations and Maintenance Cost of Bargi Distributary Suggested Abiana to the Bareji Distributary WUF ........... 5.3.3 Jushfkation of the Abiana Rate ................................................................................ 65 5.5 PAYMENT OF COST OF WATER TO THE AREA WATER BOARD ......................................................... 69 5.6 CONFLICTRESOL~ION ................................................................................................................... 69 5.6. I Theft of Water ............. ..................................................................... 69 5.3.3.1 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 66 C0LLECT10N OF ABIANA FROM WATER USE Rs ................................................................................. 67 5.4 5.6.2 Theft of Trees on the Impection Paths .................................................................................. 70 5.6.3 Other Issues ........................................................................................................................... 70 5.6.4 Honorarium to the W c e Bearers of the WUO f and the WUF ....................................... 5.6.5 Equitable Distribution OJ Water .. ............................. ................ 71 5.7 MAINTAINING PROPER BOOKS OF ACCOUNTS ................................................................................. 72 5.8 PROIECTEDCASHFLOWS ................................................................................................................ 74 SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS ...................................................................................... ..... 79 6 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6 . I4 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.20 6.21 6.22 6.23 6.24 SOCIO-ECONOMIC SETUP ................................................................................................................. 79 CREDIT FACILITIES .......................................................................................................................... 79 DRAINAGE INFRAS~UCTU RE .......................................................................................................... 80 IRRIGATION DEPARTMENT RECORDS ............................................................................................... 80 EFFECT OFTlLE DFMNAGESYSTEM ON CROPYIELD. CROPPED AREA A N D N E T ~ ~ E ................... 79 TAX COLLECTION AND TAX ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES ................................................................ 80 WATERLOGGED, SALlNlZED AND ABANDONED TRACTS OF LAND ................................................. 80 CROP YIELDS ................................................................................................................................... 81 GROSS AGRICULTURE REVENUE ...................................................................................................... 81 NET REVENUE FROM CROPS ....................................................................................................... 81 NET AGRICULTURE INCOME ....................................................................................................... 81 EXPENDITURE ON THE PROVINCIAL IRRIGATION DEPARTMENT ................................................. 82 SIDA ACT .................................................................................................................................... 82 ABIANA MECHANISM ................................................................................................................... 83 SUGGESTEDAB~ANA .................................................................................................................... 83 CONFLICT RESOLUTION .............................................................................................................. 84 BOOKS OF ACCO~JNTS AND INFORMATION IT CAN PROVIDE ...................................................... 85 STAFFING REQUIREMENTS O F THEBARWI DISTRIBUTARY ....................................................... 83 MAINTENANCE COSTS FOR THE DISTRIBUTARY ......................................................................... 83 COLLECTION AND PAYMENT O F ABIANA ..................................................................................... 84 HONORARIUM T O OFFICE BW RERS ............................................................................................ 84 EQUITY IN WATER DISTRIBUTION .............................................................................................. 85 COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................... 86 REVIEW OF AVAILABLE LITERATURE ......................................................................................... 86 6.24.1 A Possible Alternative Approach ........................................................................................... 87 6.24.2 Findings ofAIternatiw Approach ......................................................................................... 87 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ ............................ 91 A"EXuRES .......................................................................................... .............................................. . 93 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The hypothesis for this report was that the farmers are paying more than what is required to maintain the present irrigation infrastructure at the minimum level. In the end, this hypothesis proves to be somewhat correct. The authors express their profound thanks to Dr. Muhammad S. Shafique, Senior Imgation Specialist, IIMI-Pakistan, for this hypothesis and for providing guidance to them from time to time. Thanks are due to Dr. Yameen Memon, who kept everyone in line and on the right track. Dr. Bakhshal Khan Lashari, Abdul Hakeem Khan, Robina Siddique, Dr. Shafquat Ejaz and Mehmood ul Hassan for sharing their knowledge with us. Zaigham Habib we thank for changing our whole data collection methodology by informing us that farmers seldom provide accurate information. For the authors,' this is a first report, and we are thankful to Prof Gaylord V. Skogerboe, Director, IIMI-Pakistan, and Mr. Don J. Bandaragoda for their confidence in us. The authors express their good fortunate having Mr. David A. Govemey, Director Finance and Administration, IIMI, for his valuable comments. We acknowledge most of ours emors in judgment pointed out by him. Tabrez Ahmad we thank for his secretarial support, which was indeed one of the most valuable inputs, while Verenia Duke did the most difficult task of editing this report. Special thanks to these two gentlepersons. In the end, our gratitude has to be extended to two persons:(l) Dr. Muhammad Aslam for showing all the patience in the world listening to our ideas about Waterlogging, Salinity and Sodicity (which were non-existent most times) and for correcting our ideas; and (2) Ineke M. Kalwij, from whom we learned the way imgation systems work, the basics of writing a research report and how to present and interpret the research results. ix i 1 DESCRIPTION OF BAREJI DISTRIBUTARY 1.1 LOCATION The Bareji Secondary Canal (Distributary) is situated about 15 km south-east of Mirpurkhas City, Sindh Province, Pakistan. Mirpurkhas is situated 23" to 32' N latitude 55" and 69" E longitude. The elevation of Mirpurkhas District is about 50 feet (ft) above sea level. This distributary off-takes at RD 408 (Reduced Distance, 1 RD is equal to 1,000 ft) from the East Jamrao Canal, near 78 moree (bridge). 1.1.1 History of the Bareji Distributary Historically, the Bareji Distributary is as old as the Jamrao Canal itself. The Bareji Distributary and Jamrao Canal were excavated simultaneously. In those days, the length of the distributary was 24 Kilo Meter (km), and the tail was at Bikhori beyond Dengan. Mr. Khan Bahadur Ghulam Muhammad Bhurgri was the main landowner (zamindar) of the tail reach. Due to acute shortage of water in the tail reach, he obtained direct outlets (watercourses) from the Jamrao and Mithrao Canals. Owing to this reason , the length of this distributary has decreased from 24 !un to 12.5 km. Before 1947, this command area, especially the land in head and middle reaches, was mostly owned by Hindu zamindars, some of whom were residing in the Sindh province, while others lived in India. Share croppers mostly used to cultivate these lands under the supervision of the manager (karndar), while the zamindars occasionally used to visit their lands at the end of a cropping season. After the division of Indo-Pak, the Hindu zamindars left this distributary and claimed agriculture land in India, whereas the Government of Pakistan allotted these agricultural lands to Muslims migrated from India and other local people. 1.2 ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL The Bareji Distributary falls under the network of the irrigation system of the Sindh province. The distribution of irrigation water in Sindh is controlled through three barrages, i.e., Guddu, Sukkur and Kotri . The maximum imgation water is provided by Sukkur barrage, which is 65,000 Cubic feet per second (cusecs), with a flushing discharge of 50,000 cusecs. Through the network of canals, it provides irrigation water to 7,630,000 acres of Culturable Command Area (CCA), or approx. 25 percent of the country's canal-irrigated. land. 1.2.1 Sukkur Barrage The Sukkur Barrage and its feeder canals were completed in 1932 at a cost of (then) Rs. 200 million. The length of the Sukkur Barrage, between abutments, is 4,725 ft. The Sukkur Barrage was built with a clear waterway of 3,960 ft divided into 66 spans of 60 ft each. The height of the weir gates is 22.5 f t and safe cutoff depth of the weir is' 185 1 2 Preliminary Business Plan for Bareji Distributary A. During the 1980's, all 56 operating gates of this barrage were replaced with new gates by the same British national who had originally fabricated these gates. There are seven feeder canals which off-take from the Sukkur Barrage; three on the right bank, i.e., the North Westem Canal, Rice Canal and Dadu Canal, and four on the left bank, i.e., the Nara Canal, Khairpur Feeder East, Khairpur Feeder West and Rohri Canal. The discharge of this barrage is 65,000 cusecs with a flushing discharge of 50,000 cusecs. The CCA under'this barrage is about 7.47 million acres (ma), of which a CCA of about 4.138 ma comes under the LBOD Catchment. 1.2.2 Nara Canal The Eastern Nara Canal, which is part of an old river, was an inundation canal receiving its supply from the foothills of the Punjab. Afier traversing Bahawalpur (Punjab Province), it used to enter into the present Nara Canal a few miles downstream from the location of its present head. The Nara Canal, the largest off-taking canal from Sukkur Barrage, is located on both sides of this barrage. This is the longest canal in Pakistan with a length of 226 miles, extending to the western boundary of the Tharparkar District, with a design capacity of 13,602 cusecs and an actual discharge of 14,145 cusecs (source, ISRIP), this canal irrigates a tota. X A of 2,069,200 acres. 1.2.3 Jamrao Canal The construction of the Jamrao Canal commenced in November 1894, and was completed in 1900. Originally, its canal bed width was 125 ft and the full supply depth, 8 ft. The design discharge of the Jamrao Canal is 3,400 cusecs, whereas the actual average discharge is 4,588 cusec.s (source ISRIP). The total CCA of the Jamrao Canal is 860,000 acres, out of which approximately 34,000 acres has been transferred to the Mithrao Canal command area. Lately, a new area of about 63,000 acres has been brought under the Jamrao Canal command, for which two minors (Sadrat 1 and 2) have been sanctioned. An area of 14,000 acres previously, part of the tail reach of the Rohri Canal, has also been transferred to the Jamrao system. The re-modeling of the Jamrao Canal was completed in 1994. Therefore, at present, it serves a total CCA of about 892,000 acres. The length of the main canal is 124 miles, while the cumulative length of its distributaries and minors is 426 miles. West Branch Canal is the largest branch canal which off-takes from the Jamrao Canal at RD 291 on the right side, with a design capacity of 900 cusecs and covering a CCA of 230,800 acres. All the distributaries and minors in the jurisdiction of Mirpurkhas Sub-division off-take from the left bank of this canal. 1.2.4 West Branch Canal Two (2) distributaries, six (6) minors and sixty-two (62) outlets off-take from the West Branch Canal. The major features of the distributaries / minors are given in Table 1. Description of Bareji Distributary 3 Table 1. Detail of Distributaries and Minors under West Branch Canal. Source: Irrigation Department 1.2.5 Sub-divisions of Jamrao Canal From the management point of view, the Jamrao Canal and its distribution system 1 . 2. 3. 4. 5. has been divided into five Sub-divisions, which are as follows: Khadro Sub-division (from RD 0 to 163) Jhol Sub-division (from RD 163 to 291) Mirpurkhas Sub-division (from RD 291 to 448 of Jamrao and RD 0 to 143 of West Branch) Kot Ghulam Muhammad Sub-division (from RD 448 to RD 602 of Jamrao Canal); and Digri Sub-division (RD 143 to 303 of West Branch) 1.2.6 Mirpurkhas Sub-division Mirpurkhas is the third sub-division'of the Jamrao Canal, which comprises of the Jamrao Canal (from RD 291 to 443), West Branch (from RD 0 to 143) and their distribution system in the given reaches. There are four (4) distributaries, two (2) minors and thirty-four (34) outlets drawing directly from the Jamrao Canal, from RD 291 to 443. Besides, there are four (4) minors which are fed by the fore-stated two (2) distributaries. The main features of these channels are given in Table 2. 4 Preliminary Business Plan for Bareji Distributary Table 2. Detail of Distributaries and Minors under RD 291 to RD 443 of J&ao Canal. Source: Irrigation Department 1.2.7 Location of Divisional Office Tlie office of the Jamrao Division is situated in Mirpurkhas District, 65 km from Hyderabad and 240 km from Karachi. The Executive Engineer, Jamrao Canal, is the head of the division. The detail of staff serving under the Jamrao Canal is given in Annexure 2. The detail of staff serving on work charged regular establishment is given in Annexure 3. 1.2.8 Location of Sub-divisional Office The office of the Mirpurkhas Sub-division is situated in Mirpurkhas City, at a distance of nearly 0.5 km from the Jamrao Division offices. The Assistant Executive Engineer is the head of the office. The detail of staff is given in Annexure 4. 1.2.9 Irrigation Personnel involved in Bareji Distributary There are eight irrigation personnel involved in the operation of the Bareji Distributary. The list of the irrigation personnel, along with their designations, is given in Table 3. . Table 3. List of Irrigation Staff at Bareji Distributary. Source: Irrigation Department Description of Bareji Distributary 5 1.3 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF BAREJI DISTRIBUTARY The Bareji Distributary off-takes from the middle reach of the Main Jamrao Canal through a head regulator consisting of three gates. The length of this distributary is 12 km (RD 39.31) with a design discharge of 41.5 cusecs at the head. The distributary has 24 watercourses of which 7 are lined, and covers a CCA of 11,924 acres. The overall land holding size along the distributary is small to medium, varying from 5 to 100 acres. The middle and tail reaches of this distributary face the problem of flow into the command area because the water level is lower than the ground elevation, and therefore, the farmers in such areas use lift machines to irrigate their fields. The farmers of 16 (66.66 %) watercourses irrigate their lands by gravitational flow, while those of the remaining 8 (33.33 %) watercourses irrigate their fields by lift machines. A total of 16 liR machines irrigate these eight watercoumes, i.e., 7L, 8L, 9L, lOL, IIL, 12L, 9R and 10R. The detail of lift machine installed at Bareji Distributary is given in Annexure 5. As these lift machines are not sanctioned from the Irrigation Department, therefore, ‘the farmers are paying full abiana (water charges), although comparatively reduced abiana rates are applicable in such cases. The expenditure on one lift machine for one crop season is estimated between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 8,000. 1.4 SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITION 1.4.1 Population The size and growth rate of population exerts pressure on natural resources. Population growth adds to the supply of labor, but not necessarily to unemployment. In the rural structure, insecurity in old age creates an inclination for more male children in the family. More children in the family creates lofty feelings among the community. This behavior is not only common among tenants, rather, is observed among other water users also. The population of the Bareji Distributary command area, collected through various surveys, is estimated to be 6,800. 1.4.2 Major Communities The major communities living in the Bareji Distributary command area are Leghari, Mari (from Balochistan) Rajar, Mangrio, Makrani, Punjabi (settlers), Shar, Lashari, Jhulan, and Kolhi and Bheel (scheduled castes). 1.4.3 Cultivators and their Status There are 1,141 cultivators of different status cultivating their land in the Bareji Distributary command area. The water users include zumindurs, owner-cultivators, lessees, kamdars and tenants. The detail of cultivators’ status is given in Table 4. 6 Preliminary Business Plan for Bareji Distributary S.# Cultivator 1 Zamindnr 2 Owner-cul tivator 3 Lessee 4 Kamdar 5 Tenants Quantity I78 155 10 11 787 1.4.4 Educational Level Pakistan has a very weak education base and only 26 percent of the population are literate, Like other rural areas, this command area also lacks education facilities. Due to the absence of schools, or improper functioning of the schools, the literacy rate is very low, especially among tenants. Tenants, or the uneducated, incorporate 75% of the farmers, who are reluctant to listen, or contact, outsiders. The female education rate is also very low because there are no separate schools for girls in this area. Teachers avoid appointments in the rural areas, so most of these schools are used as warehouses to store the zumindar’s inputs and outputs. The summary of the educational level of the farmers is given in Table 5. Levels Illiterate Rimary Secondary College Table 5. Educational Level of Farmers of Bareji Distributary. Tenants Contact Farmer W U A members WUF members 72.4 % 17 % 14.66 Yo 06 % 18.2% 33% 45.69 % 36 % 5.3 % 27% 18.97 % 29 % 4.1 % 23% 20.68 % 29 % 1.4.5 Rural Indebtedness Tenants in the rural areas, like those along the Bareji Distributary, are treated as commodities. In a way, these tenants are purchased, or sold, in the rural agriculture community. The rural indebtedness of a tenant continues with the passage of time and mutation of the owner. Therefore, the majority of these tenants transfer their debts to their incoming generation. 1.4.6 Land Holding Size The minimum land holding size in the Bareji Distributary is 5 , 2 and 8 acres in the head. middle and tail reaches, respectively, while the maximum land holding along this distributary is 265, 250 and 300 acres in the head, middle and tail reaches, respectively. The average land holding in this command area is about 43.45 and 50 acres in the head, middle and tail reaches, respectively. Description of Bareji Distributary 7 1.4.7 Major Crops and Crop Zones According to the climatic and soil condition in this province, different areas are 1 UpperSindh 2 MiddleSindh 3 LowerSindh 4 Desert and Katcho Area considered suitable for different crops, the detail of which is given below: The Bareji Distributary comes under the Lower Sindh crop zone. The lower Sindh 1. Upper part of Hyderabad (Hala, Hyderabad and Tando Allahyar Sub- division), Sanghar and Mirpurkhas District are suitable for cotton, wheat, sunflower, soybean, rapeseed, mustard and ground nut. Tando Muhammad Khan Sub-division of Hyderabad, District Badin, is suitable for sugarcane and rice crops. Mash and masoor pulses are also suitably grown in Thatta and Badin Districts. In this command area, the crops being cultivated are cotton, sugarcane, chilies, wheat, oil seed, fodder, onion and mango orchards. crop zone includes: .. 11. The total reported area of Sindh is 58.12 million hectare (mha), whereas only 24.90 mha, or 43 %, is under agricultural use. Out of this 24.90 mha, 3.44 mha, or 14 %, of the agriculture land is under forest, with the remainder under cultivation. 1.4.8 Surface Irrigation Methr.ds and Practices Traditionally, there are two common irrigation methods followed in this area; basin irrigation and furrow irrigation. In the case of basin irrigation, the farmers prepare land, which is not properly leveled. In recent years, the trend is moving more towards the use of furrow irrigation. 1.4.8.1 Bash Irrigation Some years ago, basin irrigation was common, but now this practice is undergoing slow change, as the farmers have now realized that under this inigation method, they need precise land leveling. In the rabi season mostly wheat, fodder and sugarcane are cultivated using the basin irrigation method. 1.48.2 Furrow Irngation The trend to adopt the furrow irrigation method has increased because farmers believe that they can cultivate more area within their water turns under this method. In the kharifseason, cotton and chilies crops are being sown on ridges, while in rabi season, onion and vegetables are being cultivated using this method. 8 Preliminary Business Plan for Bareji Distributary 1.4.9 Soil Physical Properties The Bareji Distributary command area consists of different types of soils. The main type of soils categorized in this command area are loamy, sandy clay, clay, silty and heavy clay. 1.4.10 Climate .The climate is Suitable for all major crops, such as cotton, sugarcane, wheat, chilies, oil seeds and bananas. This region is hot in summer, with maximum temperature ranging between 38'C and 43T , while the mean minimum temperature in winter ranges between 12OC and 20°C. The monthly rainfall in summer is about 40-50 milli meter (mm)while the winter season is practically dry. The average annual precipitation ranges from 200 to 250 mm. The climate of Sindh is arid and hot. According to the classification made by 1. Coastal - South of Thatta. 2. Southern - From Thattta through Hyderabad to Nawabshah. 3. Northern - From Nawabshah to Jacobabad. UNESCO the region has been divided into three zones: 1.4.11 Warabandi Two types of warubundi practices are followed within the Bareji Canal command I. 11. area. Rotational closure, of this distributary. Warabandi at the watercourse level, which may be further sub-classified as follows: .. a. Kachi Warabandi. b. Pucci Warabundi. i. Distributary Rotational Closure This type of warabandi is practiced at the canal level. During the months of acute shortage of inigation water (i.e., May, June and July), the distributaries of the head and middle of the Jamrao Canal are closed rotation-wise, so that water may become available into the tail reach of the Jamrao Canal. ii. Warabandi at Watercourse Level Warabundi at watercourse level is practiced among the zamindua only. The tenants of a zamindar receive water according to the wishes of their zamindar. There are two types of warabandi practices followed in this command area, which are explained as follows: Description of Bareji Distributary 9 a. Kuchi Warubandi This type of wurubundi is actually distribution of water by mutual understanding. All the zumindurs of a watercourse mutually decide the water turns for themselves. The Provincial Inigation Department (PID) does not interfere in Kuchi Wurubqndi, whereby the water turn of a zumindur remains intact, even if, at the time of his / her water turn, the distributary is closed due to some reason. Thus, the day for the water turn of a zumindur is not fixed. b. Pucci wurubundi The schedule of water tums decided by the PID along a watercourse for its water users is called Pucci Wurubundi. Sometimes, this kind of wurubundi is also set with the mutual consensus of the zumindurs along a watercourse. If, at a certain period of time, the distributary is closed the zumindur entitled to a water hun at that particular time has to forgo his / h a tdn. The water turns under this type of wurubundi are. rigid and officially determined, therefore, fanners cannot challenge, overlap, or break these turns. Under the Bareji Distributary, in most of the watercourses, this type of warubundi is practiced. 1.4.12 Loan and Credit Facility The Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan provides loan facilities credits to the small zumindurs for purchasing basic inputs. Besides, other schemes relating to agriculture inputs, e.g., purchase of tractor, etc., are also available to the zumindurs. However, due to procedural complexities, only a few zamindurs of this command ‘area benefit from this facility. The National Rural Support Program (NRSP), also working for rural communities in the rural areas of Mirpurkhas, has recently started work among the rural community of the Bareji Distributary command area. The main purpose of NRSP is to strengthen and empower the community through different packages of loan and credit schemes. Mirpurkhas Sugar Mills also play a major role in agriculture development by providing loans and credit to interested sugarcane growers in this vicinity. They also provide fertilizer on the basis of average consumption per acre for the year. 1.4.13 Role of Water Users Organizations / Farmer Organizations The objective of IIMI-Pakistan’s action research is to transfer responsibilities to water users for the support service of the irrigation system. If such transfer policies work, their exists a strong possibility that this will result in an increase of benefits to farmers. In order to be successful, this action research should be consistent with the realities faced by the water users in texms of financial, technical, social and personal, in order to optimize system benefits and the sharing of system responsibilities. 10 Preliminarv Business Plan for Bareii Dishibutaw IIMI-Pakistan has assisted the water users of this command area to form Water Users Associations (WUA) and Water Users Federation (WUF). The main objective is to involve water users in participatory management so as to improve the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) of the irrigation system. The underlying concept is that the W A S at the watercourse level, and the WUF at the distributary level, would eventually be accountable for the water received at the head of the Bareji Distributary. Furthermore, they will be responsible for water distribution among their members, collection of nbinnn, along with O&M of the combined irrigation and drainage facilities within their distributary. The emphasis of this strategy is to increase equity and empowerment through greater involvement of water users, increase commitment and willingness to share costs, and an interest in sustaining the benefits. In the Bareji Distributary, 24 W A S , i.e., one WUA for each watercourse consisting of President, Vice President, General Secretary, Finance Secretary and one or two members of the executive body. Two members from each watercourse, in consultation with the WUA, were selected to form a general body consisting of a total of 48 members (see Annexure 6 for more details), who than selected 11 ofice bearers with consensus. This body of 11 members is called the Water Users Federation, and the members include President, Vice President, General Secretary, Joint Secretary and Finance Secretary, and six members of the executive body. The names and designations are given in Annexure 7. The detailed profile of oflice bearers of the WUF is given in Annexure 8. 1.5 DRAINAGE SYSTEM The command area of the Bareji Distributary comes under the Left Bank Outfall Drainage (LBOD) Project, which is one of the major public sector drainage projects and stretches into three disdcts of the Sindh province. There are two types of drainage facilities available in this command. area. a. Surface drainage; and b. Subsurface (tile) drainage. 1.5.1 Surface Drainage A network of surface drains is required for the disposal of tubewell, or tile, effluent, and for the removal of surplus irrigation water and storm water. In principal, the surface water network is a mirror-image of the canalization network. The sub-drains, generally, are aligned on the command boundaries of the distrihutary canals. The drains are provided with storm water inlets. Field drains are constmcted by farmers I water users, as necessary, for the removal of excess water and flooding. The capacity of a surface drain is based on the discharge from tiles and tubewells. A freeboard is incorporated, varying from 1 ft in sub-drains, 2 ft in the branch drains and 4 ft in the outfall drain. Description of Bareji Distfibutary I 1 Four surface drains are located in the command area of the Bareji Distributary, namely 3L, 4L, 4LA, and DC-IR. Sub-drains 3L and DC-IR collect saline water that is pumped out by the sump houses, while sub-drains 4L and 4LA are being used for surface runoff. The spinal drain, which collects the drainage water of all three LBOD districts, is also passing through the pilot command area of Watercourses 6L to 13L. The detail of surface drains is given in Table 6. Table 6. Detail of Surface Drains in the Bareji Distributary Command Area. 1.5.2 ' Subsurface Drains The network of the tile drainage system covers about 9,873 acres of this command area. The 13 pumps, which are about 20 % of the Mirpurkhas sub-project, installed in the Bareji Distributary command area, drain the saline water from the nine (09) dehs in the Bareji Distributary command area. Tile drains are sub-surface corrugated perforated plastic pipes. The material of the pipes may be polyvinyl chloride (PVC), or polyethylene (PE). Field drains are installed at regular intervals of 350 to 650 ft, depending upon the characteristic of the soil. Each field drain outfalls into bigger diameter pipe collectors, varying in diameter from 6 to 15 inches, and with a geotextile surrounds. The depth of the field drains is 6 to 8 ft below gound surface, while that of the collector drain varies from 7.5 to 11 ft. The collector drains outfall into a sump, where the drainage effluent is pumped out into the disposal channels. The disposal channels are small open surface drains. The area drained by one pump station varies from 400 to 1,200 acres. The overall performance of the tile drain depends on proper O&M of the pump station. The cost of capital and operations of this drainage system, as estimated by the LBOD WAPDA, is about Rs. 15000-20,000 per acre and Rs. 80-100 per acre per year, respectively. 1.5.3 Effect of Tile Drainage System on Crop Yield, Cropped Area and Net Income Various studies have been conducted to evaluate the impact of drainage on crop yield and cropped area. The ultimate objective of the LBOD project is to improve the soil productivity and increase the per acre yield of crops through this drainage system by controlling the water table depths and to reclaim already-affected soils. 12 Preliminary Business Plan for Bareji Distributary The pre- and post-project results of a private farm near Mirpurkhas, wherein a tile drainage unit has been installed under collaborative arrangements in 1989, are given in Table 7. Table 7. Impact of Drainage System on Farm Income. * Data under compilation Source:-Out reach Workshop on Collaborative Drainage at Nawazabad near Mirpurkhas. 1.5.4 Water Table Depth Before 1932, the water table depth in the LBOD area was below 12 ft; however, after 50 years, 75% of the area has water tables below 5 ft from the surface, and 20 % below 8ft from the surface. Since 1983, water tables have continued to rise throughout the LBOD area. .The water table depth is measured twice a week by the IIMI-Mirpurkhas field team through piezometers installed in this command area. IIMI-Pakistan has installed a total of 65 piezometers in the head, middle and tail reaches of each of the 24 watercourses of this distributary. The average water table depth has been observed at 3 ft, 4.4 ft and 5.61 A at head, middle and tail reach of command area, respectively; however, the minimum and maximum average water table depth observed is 0.63 ft and 9.1 ft, respectively. The average water table depth observed in the Bareji Distributary command area is about 4.42 ft. 1.5.5 Effect of Water Table Depth on Crop Yields Water table depth plays a major role in achieving a righteous yield of different crops. The total area in Pakistan with water table depths between zero and five feet is reported to be 22,616,000 acres. The percentage in the Sindh province is the highest when compared with other provinces, i.e., 12,236,000 acres, or 54.10 %, of the total area in this range. The effect of water table depths at varying levels on crop yield is given in Table 8. Description of Bareji Distributary 13 1 2 3 Table 8. Effect of Water Table Depth on Crop Yields. 0 -700 700- 1200 Greaterthan 1200 First class irrigation water Second class irrigation water Unfit for irrigation purpose Source: Water Sector Investment Planning study, vol. 1. 1.5.6 Groundwater Quality The groundwater in this distributary command area is mostly saline. During the collection of data on wafer quality, it was observed that the water quality varies from field to field, and sump house to sump house. However, the water pumped out from the sump houses is saline and cannot feasibly be used for imgation. The water samples collected from the 65 piezometers installed in the command area show that the water contains total dissolved solids (TDS), a measure of total salinity, from 400 parts per million (ppm) to 19,000 ppm. The Electrical Conductivity (EC) of the groundwater has been observed at 300 ppm to 12,500 ppm, 450 pprn to 10,500 pprn and 500 ppm to 50,112 ppm in the head, middle and tail reach areas, respectively. The minimum and maximum EC is 300 pprn and 50,112, respectively, while the average for this distributary has been calculated at 5,323 ppm. The quality of groundwater, in ppm, with different ranges of suitability for irrigation use, is given in Table 9. Table 9. Range of Groundwater Quality in PPM Suitable for Irrigation use. S.# I Range of Ground water quality (pp in) I Suitability for irrigation use I Source: Field data by IIMI, Mirpurkhas staff 1.5.7 Farmers’ Perceptions about Drainage System The project of tile drainage was completed on January 31, 1996 (Completion report of Sub-surface Drain 111, Contract # T40 IBI). However, farmers informed that this is due to the irregular hnctioning of this network (interrupted electric supply). For the last two years, the waterlogging and salinity conditions around the sump houses have 14 Preliminary Business Plan for Bareji Distributary deteriorated as the saline water accumulates around the sump houses, and is thus the cause of low yields in these fields (see Annexure 9 for detail of pump stations). The operational hours for each pump installed in the Bareji Distributary command area is given in Table 10. Table 10. Operational hours for Pumps Installed in the Bareji Distributary Command Area. Source: Field Data by IIMI, Mirpurkhas 2 CURRENT FINANCIAL. SITUATION 2.1 SOURCE OF INCOME 2.1.1 Abiana Abiana is the seasonal service charge for water delivery paid by the zarnindar for different cultivated crops, at different rates, to the Revenue Department, Government of Sindh (GoS). The rates for ubiana vary from canal to canal, and / or barrage to barrage. The abiuna is recovered from the water users for each season (rubi and kharig, according to rates fixed for different crops by the GoS every year. The increase in rates for different crops is announced by the GoS, or the rate list is released from the Mukhfiarkar of the concerned area. Abiuna rates for different crops for last four years are given in Table 11. Table 11. Abiuna Rates for Different Crops for the Last Four Years. 2.1.2 Land Tax All land, for whatever purpose applied, and to whatever statute, is liable to the a) Such land as has been wholly exempted from that liability by special contract with the Government, or by the provisions of any law for the time being in force; Such land as is included in village sites; Such land as is included in cantonment limits; Land on which property tax under the [West Pakistan] Urban immovable Property Tax Act, 1958 (W.P Act V of 1958) is payable; Waste land and barren land not under cultivation for a continuous period of not less than six years immediately before the date of notification of general assessment under section 59; provided that where any waste and barren land is brought under cultivation at any time after the date of such payment of land revenue to the Government, except; b) c) d) e) 16 Preliminaty Business Plan for Bareji Distributary 1 2 3 4 5 6 I 8 9 notification, such land not be liable to the payment of land revenue for a period of six years from the date it is so brought under cultivation. Sugarcane 3.75 Rice, Tobaco, Watemut, Jute 3.40 Cotton 8.55 Khar$Pulses, Bajra, Maize, Fodder 1.50 Chilies, KhuniOil seed, Melon 1.50 Wheat 6.35 Garden Onion, Banana, Vegetable (112 years) Kharp2.25 & Rabi=ISO Rub; Oil seed, Pulses 1.50 Forest Plantation 1 S O The details of crop-wise land revenue rates are given in Table 12. S.# 1 2 3 4 Table 12. Crop-wise Land Revenue Rates. Land Holding Sue Rate Up to 12 acres of land 1.50 Times 12 to 25 acres of land 2.00 Times 25 to 50 acres of Land 3.00 Times >50 acresofhd 4.00 Times S # I crop I LandRevenue Rate I The land revenue rates have been unchanged for the above-mentioned crops for the last 20 years, and are applicable with respect to land holding sizes. The categories for land holding sizes, with rates, are given in Table 13. Table 13. Categories, and Rates, for Land Holding Sizes. 2.1.3 Usher Usher is a type of tax levied by Islam on Muslims generating income from the cultivation of agriculture lands. Usher is equivalent to one-tenth (10 %) of the income, but in the Sindh province, due to other taxes, the zaniindar is liable to pay one-fifth ( 5%) of the income from agriculture on account of Usher. The rates for Usher vary from deh to deh, Taluka to Tuluka and Division to Division due to the average per acre production. Details of Usher rates for the Kharif and Rubi seasons, respectively, are given in Tables 14 and 15. Current Financial Situation 17 Table 14. Usher Rates for the KhargSeason. Sr. No. I Crop I 199798 I 1%97 I 1995-96 1. I cotton I 262.50 I 168.75 I 225.00 Table 15. Usher Rates for the Rabi season. 2.1.4 Other Taxes (Local Cess) Department, by the zamindur. The rate for local cess is Rs. 10 per acre. Local Cess is the tax paid to the concerned District Council, through the Revenue 2.1.5 Agriculture Tax Agriculture tax was levied through the Sindh Agricultural Income Tax (Amendment) Ordinance, 1997. According to this act, owners with a total land holding size of twelve acres, or less, in the barrage area, and twenty-four acres, or less, in the non- barrage area, will not pay tax. The agriculture tax for different crops is given in Table 16. Table 16. Agriculture Tax for different Crops. Note: The tax in the non-bamge areas is half that of the above rates. 18 Preliminary Business Plan for Bareji Distributary 2.2 TAX ASSESSMENT AND TAX COLLECTION PROCEDURE According to the Land Revenue Act, 1969, and Land Revenue Rules (Sardar Muhammad Iqbal Khan Mokal) before the commencement of Jumabandi inspection, all forms should be compkted by the Tapedar, and tested by the supervising Tapedars. Village accounts must be closed by the Tapedar within the revenue year as a matter of course, and the Mukhtiurkar should then examine and correct these where necessary. All taxes, i.e., Abiana, Land Revenue, Agriculture Tax and Local Cess, are assessed by the Revenue Department in the concerned district. As far as crop assessment, or cultivation assessment, is concerned, this is undertaken by both, the Irrigation and Revenue Departments. From the Irrigation Department, the Abdur appraises the cultivation, and the from the Revenue Department, the Tupedar assesses. Both these departments then equate their figures. The Abdar and Tapedur inspect every acre of land of each deh during both cropping seasons. However, lower estimated cultivation is shown for recovery without a detailed survey having been conducted. Once figures are agreed upon by these two departments, the assessed cultivation data is submitted to the Mukhtiarkar and the Assistant Commissioner. This is perceived to be a primary “bribe” stage from the water users. The Tapedar then issues invoices to individual zamindars, along with the rates, and requests payment. Zamindars, usually, are not hlly conversant with the rates and procedures, and request discounts, although these invoices are based on fabricated data. In the end, both patties agree to a lower amount. The Tapedur is also authorized to receive cash and provide receipts to zamindars. On the basis of field observations, the receipt amount specifies much less than the amount received by the Tapedar. In many cases, receipts are not even provided to the zamindars. 23 EXPENDITURES Assistant Executive Engineers of the concerned Sub-divisions submit their demands for Maintenance and Repairs to their respective Executive Engineers. AAer verification, the Executive Engineers forward these for estimates. The demand, along with the estimation, is then given to the Superintendent Engineer (SE), Nara Circle, who compiles all the estimates for this circle, and presents these to the Chief Engineer, Sukkur Barrage. The Chief Engineer compiles all the estimates for each division before sending these to the Secretary of Irrigation, who, after exoneration, forwards these estimates to the Ministry of Finance for budgetary approval. The Executive Engineer of a division has the authority to approve development schemes for amounts not exceeding Rs. 0.2 million, while the Superintendent Engineer may approve development work between Rs. 0.2 and Rs. 0.5 million. Current Financial Situation 19 Executive Engineers submit their summaries to the Superintendent Engineer in order to solicit approval for a Tender Declaration for each Development Scheme, 2.4 OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE Various expenditures are incurred at the imgation divisional level and are normally categorized under two heads, namely (1) Operation and (2) Maintenance. 2.4.1 Operation Operation are those actions taken to ensure performance of the irrigation system in accordance with the instruction for use as spelled out by the designer, and in agreement with the developer, so that the objective of the project can be fully attained. The operation function also incorporates, with provision for technical support and other related advisory services for system users, exercise of responsibility for balanced management in order to ensure compliance with both, statutory regulations and system rules goveming users. In other words, the administration of water stock and policing of water regulations are included (Alexander Vibre, IIMI). 2.4.2 Maintenance Maintenance is the set of actions that make it possible to maintain an investment in a given condition, and for its restoration that would enable it to continue providing a given service. Thus, the purpose of maintenance is to guarantee the uninterrupted normal functioning of a system so that it can meet its assigned objective 2.4.3 Current Irrigation Operation and Maintenance Prior to this pilot project, the water user’s only involvement in the operation and maintenance (O&M) of distributaries has been the provision of labor for desilting. zumindurs, typically, provide two sharecropping tenants for desilting of the canal sections supplying their watercourses. The work may be initiated by water users themselves, or by the IPD, but the laborer does not receive payment. Water users observe that this arrangement tends to be treated as a formality, and that the work is disorganized and frequently not completed to the required standards. The use of manual labor alone is often inadequate for the scale of work required, as well as for removing major obstructions. However, any desilting does tend to improve water flow, and the practice is more common in tail reach areas. Some zumindurs in the head reach may not see the need to desilt the canal, with the result that the work along their stretches may be carried out by those from the tail. The IPD regulates the discharge in the distributary and sanct?ons and monitors the withdrawal of water via the outlets. In practice, very little maintenance work is carried out on the distributary. An Abdur and Buildur are each responsible for routine maintenance, including minor repairs to inspection paths, removal of fallen trees and other vegetation from the canal, and repair of minor rain and cattle cuts in embankments. 20 Preliminary Business Plan for Bareji Distributary Most of the activities for operation and maintenance are interrelated. However, after thorough evaluation, it was observed that there are three main accounting entries that may represent the total Operation and Maintenance costs. These three entries are listed .under the categories of Maintenance and Repairs (M&R), Extension and Improvements (E&I), and Establishment in the budget. M&R and E&I fall under maintenance costs, while Establishment is considered as an Operation cost. The major activities under Maintenance and Repair are the maintenance of vehicles, electricity / telephone charges, breaches, maintenance of residential and non- residential buildings, transportation charges, advertisement charges, earth work, construction of inspection paths, repairs to modules / regulators / gates I gears / machines, silt clearance, dumping of stones, repair of banks, etc.. Major activities conducted under Extension and Improvement (E & I) are: a. Reconditioning of banks; b. c. Re-handling of spoils; and d. Re-sectioning of soil. Earth work maintenance of banks; The details of staff engaged in the Mirpurkhas Division, Sub-division and the Bareji Distributary, along with their basic pay scales, are attached as Annexes 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Salaries for each pay scale is also annexed. 3 FARM INCOME ANALYSIS 3.1 BACKGROUND A farmer derives his / her source of income by selling agricultural produce. Being conservative by nature, a farmer would only incur any additional expense, like that of an investment in his I her favor, if, in return, these additional expenses contribute towards the farm income. In acknowledgement of this preference, a methodology, which is explained later in this chapter, was devised in order to calculate the net farm income, and to understand, in more detail, the different factors affecting farm income. Generally, three techniques, namely, (a) farm income analysis; (b) fund flow analysis; and (c) farm investment analysis, are used to measure the performance of an agriculture project. Whereas the latter two techniques are used to determine the liquidity and attractiveness of a proposed investment, farm income analysis is normally used to evaluate the performance of a farm in a particular year (Gittinger 1992). Farm income analysis technique has been favored in this report, as, at present, our primary objective is to test the financial viability of the FOs for a possible take-over of Operation and Maintenance of the Bareji Distributary. 3.1.1 Cropping Intensity and Cropping Pattern - Importance Cropping intensity is normally expressed in percentage, and is referred to .as the cropped land within a given CCA, while cropping pattern means identification of different crops in a given cropped area. The values for these two are needed to calculate the following: a) forming the basis to calculate crop yields; b) forming the basis to calculate farm inputs; and c) forming the basis to calculate abiana. The foregoing are considered core requirements to ascertain the farm income. Furthermore, calculating abiana payable by a farmer also depends entirely on this information. 3.1.2 Information Collected on Cropping Intensities at Different Intervals IIMI's field office in Mirpurkhas has been collecting information about cropping intensities since 1996. Information has also been obtained from the Revenue Department. Mr. Amin Sohani, Financial Analyst, conducted a special survey with the help of field 21 22 Preliminary Business Plan for Bareji Distributary Rabi Rabi 95/96 Rabi 96/97 Kharif96 staff to collect this information. The information thus collated, utilizing different sources, is summarized in Table 17. 53.00 Designed Intensity 60.00 41.68 Survey by field team 60.00 Mean figures by A. Sohani Mean figures by A. Sohani Table 17. Cropping Intensities for Bareji Distributary. Season Mean Farm Revenue Mean Farm Expense Rabi 95-96 1,873 1,495 (CCA Acre) (CCA Acre) Kharif96 5,631 3,81 I ~~ ~ Sensin I Intensity(in %) I Kharif I 28.00 I Designed Intensity Mean Farm Income (CCA Acre) 378 1,820 Kharif96 130.70 I Survey by field team Kharif97 148.91 I Survey by field team 3.1.3 Farm Revenue and Farm Expenses Amin Sohani (1997), reported the farm revenue and farm expenses for this distributary, as given in Table IS. 3.2 JUSTIFICATION OF REVIEW OF THE EXISTING DATA One of the specific objectives in organizing the farmers is to promote ;heir maximum involvement in the operation and maintenance of distributary / minor canals (Phase I1 Report, 1997). This preliminary Business Plan (financial framework) is intended to facilitate the Farmers Organizations (FOs) of this distributary in managing its financial affairs amicably. The variance in the existing data is somewhat substantial, although the data collected the by IIMI field team sounds more reasonable. However, since this data is largely based on samples, therefore, the chances of inherent limitations are possible. Considering the sensitive nature of the final product involved, i.e., a preliminary framework (financial) which is also acceptable to the farmers, the authors of this report felt the need for a more comprehensive survey of this distributary. Furthermore, the need to obtain more confidence by having indepth knowledge about this distributary was also felt, to enable, on one hand, extending maximum assistance to FOs during negotiations in the Joint Management Agreement, and, on the other hand, to come up with the best possible financial solutions. Farm Income Analysis 23 3.3 DATA ENTRY AND DATA COLLECTION METHODOLOGY The first important step, as considered by the authors, was to become familiar with the IIMI-Mirpurkhas field staff, as well as with the Bareji Distributary. Therefore, a field visit was undertaken in August 1997. Mr. Waryam Baloach, Supervisory Social Organizer and head of the IIMI field station, assisted by other members of his team, provided a detailed presentation of this distributary. Later, he accompanied the authors to a field visit of the command area. At the end of this visit, it was decided to have the authors of this Business Plan meet for a full day at the Hyderabad ofice. The purpose for this meeting was to devise a preliminary strategy for the collection of necessary data. Since information on cropping intensities and patterns was considered essential, therefore, it was resolved to conduct a 100% detailed survey of this distributary by hiring the part-time services of abdars, who were to be equally assisted by IIMI-Mirpurkhas field staff members. This strategy was discussed in detail with Dr. Yameen Memon, IIMI-team leader for the Sindh Province, Mr. Don J. Bandaragoda, Project Leader, and Professor Gaylord V. Skogerboe, Director, IIMI-Pakistan, whereby i t was decided to organize a one-day workshop in Hyderabad that would be attended by all the Sindh-based project staff. The workshop started with the authors providing a simple introduction to the Business Plan, while Dr. Yameen Memon described the purpose of the proposed survey, as well as the expectations from field staff during this period. Later, an open session was held with participants, in order to gather different ideas to improve the quality of this survey, and corrective measures to be adopted when bottlenecks arose. Participants agreed to the suggestion of conducting this survey at the level of each watercourse, and also to prepare maps at the same time. Accordingly, an initial questionnaire (proforma) was developed. The recommendations of this workshop are as follows: P Technical persons, adequately familiar with the command area, and with about 5 years’ fieMexperience, to be hired; P One field staff person to accompany this technical person, for both to go to the fields for data collection and filling proformas together; P Two proformas were suggested; one for mapping and the other for crop identification; P Each member to be responsible for the accuracy and correctness of data, by comparing the two proformas with each other; and b Supervisory Social Organiser (SSO) of the Mirpurkhas field station to be responsible for the final verification of data, before sending it to the IIMI- Hyderabad office. The proformas developed at the end of the workshop were pre-tested on the following day. In Mirpurkhas, this questionnaire was jointly tested by the IIMI field 24 Preliminary Business Plan for Bareji Distributary member and the abdar, and based on the performance of pre-testing, the proforma was modified and reviewed by the IIMI field team, financial analyst and team leader. The salient features of this proforma are as follows: 9 A one-page questionnaire in landscape format. > Data is easy to record. 9 One page can easily record information for 9 blocks. 9 The basic information relating to cultivators includes: (1) watercourse number; (2) survey, or block number; (3) deh name; (4) holding, in acres; (5) owner's name; (6 ) managed by; (7) status; (8) number of tenants; (9) water allocation (hr.); and (10) day and time of water allocation. > Information for each crop cultivated, including orchards and vegetables. > Information about uncropped land, i.e., fallow. 9 Information about waterlogged and salinized lands. 5, Information about abandoned land. 5, Information relating to drainage infrastructure. 9 Information about lift pumps and piezometers situated in the area. 9 The last column for use to record any special information. 3.3.1 Data Collection in the Field The person hired to compile the inventory assessment of the Bareji Distributary command area is the abdar of the Irrigation Department. Mr. Jamil (abdar) has been serving with the Irrigation Department for the last 15 years. However, from IIMI- Mirpurkhas, each field team member assisted Mr. Jamil with the assessment of the inventory. This strategy proved to be helpful, as watercourses of this distributary have been classified among the field team members so that they may focus full attention on a particular command area, and develop a close liaison with the water users. All dehs concerned with the Bareji Distributary command area fall under the area identified by the PID for crop assessment. The existing location of each and every item of the inventory, i s . , each type of crop, drainage facilities, villages, roads, pump houses and piezometers installed, along with the area covered by each item, were identified in the map profonna. In the evening, the field team members again reviewed the proforma and maps so that any modifications could be made. In this way, many entries of an ambiguous nature were corrected. For final verification and validation of data, the field team leader checked each entry on the proforma. Farm Income Analysis 25 3.3.2 Major Observations During Data Collection This job was very tiring; however,' the IIMI team accomplished this survey smoothly and successfully. Some interesting observations made by the field staff are given below: P The major part of the land is un-surveyed, so the holdings are irregular. P The land transferred to the Mithrao Canal has not been updated. P The area falling under the drainage system, i.e., Spinal, Sub-drain, Surface drain, was not updated in the government records. P Schools and villages were not reflected in the deh maps issued by the Revenue Department. ' P Land transferred, or new zumindurs, are not amended in the Imgation Department records. P Only one person could be arranged for the inventory survey, therefore, whenever he absent, the survey had to be deferred. One of the field team members faced a serious barrier when one zumindur of Watercourse 10R, Mr. Agedino Dal, misbehaved and became hostile. This zumindur owns about 500 acres and is considered to be one of the biggest zumindur along this distributary therefore, assessment of crops created some doubts for him; actually recording cultivation that may resilt in the actual payment of taxes. Later, the field team leader and a few members of the WUF met with him and explained the purpose and aims of this survey, as well as the benefits of the FOs. He apologized to the members for his behavior with the IIMI team member. Due to irregular design of survey numbers, the field team faced a problem when recording the actual area of each item. The PACING METHOD was adopted to confirm the area of crop and other items. 3.4 FARM REVENUE ANALYSIS Farm revenue is calculated by multiplying the physical productivity with the per unit price of the commodity. The formula used to calculate the farm revenue is: FR = (TYP * Pr) + (TYB * Pr). Where, FR = FarmRevenue TYP= Total Yield of Principle Crop TYB= Total Yield of By-product Pr = Per Unit Price 26 Preliminary Business Plan far Bareji Distributary S # 1 2 3 4 5 Farm revenue analysis was considered very important to make a Business Plan for the FOs; on the basis of these analyses, judgments could be formed about the financial efficiency, incentives, creditworthiness and liquidity. The following information is important to calculate farm revenue: > Total land holding of a farmer. > Cropping pattern. > Cropping Intensity. > Total Production. > Farm-gate Prices. Crops Farm-gate price (Maund per acre) Colton 813.15 Sugarcane 37.20 Chilies 1,220.38 Wheat 255.90 Onion 156.18 3.4.1 Farm-gate Price The best point of first sale to use is, generally, the Boundary of the farm; what the farmer receives when he sells his product, is termedfarmgute price. A good rule to use when determining a market price for agriculture commodities produced, is to seek the price at the point of first sale. Usually, the point of first sale is the point that the farmer has easy access to, without any transportation costs, or octroi charges. The farm-gate price is generally the best price at which to evaluate home-consumed production. 3.4.2 Collection of Farm-gate Price Process Evolved The estimation of actual farm-gate price is a process of investigation that covers different inquiries related to farm production marketing. The major indicators of the farm-gate prices are the market price of the production per unit, transportation charges on per unit production, other expenditures, i.e., taxes, octroi, etc.. The farm-gate price for the farm income analysis was calculated by a detailed survey depicting the project command area. Besides other different expenditures and revenue, transportation charges and different taxes pertaining to marketing the product, has also been computed. The exact method, or formula, is given below: Farm-gate price = Per unit rate - (Transportation charges + Octroi /Tax) Farm-gate prices calculated for different crops cultivated under the Bareji Distributary command area are given in Table 19. Farm Income Analysis , 21 3.4.3 Collection of Crop Yield Process Evolved This is the most recent information pertaining to average yield collected through the survey. A questionnaire was designed to record the information gathered from the water users regarding inputs and outputs. The criteria for the selection of water users was based on average land quality reliability. Data based was on information collected about farm inputs and production, or yield, for each crop. Information regarding yield foster the calculation of the farm revenue. The yield of each crop depicts the command area of the Bareji Distributary. The 24 samples from each watercourse show the average yield for each crop. The average yield of the production is very low due to a severe salinity and waterlogging problem in command area. For the purposes of the farm revenue analysis in this report, farm-gate prices have been calculated by deducting the cost of transportation and local taxes on the agricultural produce from the market price at the time of first produce arriving in the market. These prices were obtained from the contact farmers of each watercourse (who have retained copies of sale receipts). 3.4.4 Land Considered as Affected Due to Waterlogging, Salinity and Other Reasons During this survey, parts of the uncultivated agricultural land were categorized as waterlogged, salinized and abandoned. The reasons for these categorizations are based on farmers’ perceptions, as described below: According to the farmers, a substantial amount of irrigation water seeps underground from the canals, watercourses and fields. This seepage, with no natural means of escape, continues to accumulate underground, and the level of underground water continues to rise until it reaches the ground surface. This creates waterlogged conditions. Therefore, in this report, such areas have been considered as waterlogged. According to the farmers, sometimes, when water pushes upwards, water salts also rise to the surface and is deposited at the root zone, rendering the soil unproductive, or forms a white layer on the surface. Irrigation with water (canal or groundwater) containing large amounts of salts causes salinization. Therefore, non-cropped areas of land, where layers of white salts were visible, have been considered as salinized fields in this report. According to the farmers, other reasons for uncultivated land are either sand dunes, and / or non-availability of canal irrigation water, and in such areas, a very low quality ground water. Therefore, in this report, such areas have been categorized as abandoned lands. a. b. c. 28 Preliminary Business Plan for Bareji Distributary 3.5 FARM LAND REVENUE OF BAREJI DISTRIBUTARY The information'deemed necessary, as explained in Section 3.4, was available at the end of this survey for the khurif 1997 cropping season. However, the same information for the rubi 96-97 was not possible through this survey. In order to form an opinion regarding the economic strength of the farmers, farm land revenue should be calculated for a period of one year. Therefore, field data collected by the IIMI- Mirpurkhas team, using the sampling method, has been relied upon to compute the figures for the rubi 96-97 cropping season. The other important factor in arriving at the farm revenue, is crop yield per acre. Again, contact farmers were contacted from each watercourse with land that can be considered as fairly representative of the whole watercourse. The information provided by these farmers was further cross-checked with the information available for the other two pilot distributaries, and may be considered as being fairly reliable. The yield per acre of major crops in this command area, when compared to that of national and international information, is given in Table 20. Table 20. Comparison of Crops in different Countries. Source: Agricultural Statistics of Pakistan 1992-1993. For the purposes of calculating farm land revenue, expenditure and income, it was assumed that a farmer hides actual cropped area, whereas, (s)he normally imparts the correct information about the crop yield, crop prices and crop expenditures as other sources, to confirm, or negate, this information, which is readily available. Therefore, the main emphasis was to collect accurate information (maximum possible) regarding cropped area and pattern. Important information collected during data collection regarding crops, cropped area for these crops divided into maximum and minimum area, average water table depths, average water quality in ppm, and average water duty, is given in Table 21. This information can be used to explain the farmer's preference to certain crops in their respective watercourses. Farm Income Analysis 29 Table 21. Farmers Preferences for selected crops in different watercourses. Source: For cultivated area and crops identification survey by IIMI-Mirpurkhas. For water quality, water table depth and water duty average of time-series data for the last 5 months collected by IIMI-Mirpurkhas field staff. The only reason for a high cotton crop in Watercourse SL, is that it is the biggest watercourse along the Bareji Distributary. One-third is cropped, out of which two-thirds is cropped for cotton. While low cotton-cropped area in Watercourse 4R is due to a low water table depth from the surface and high water quality, i.e., 3.68 and 3,988, respectively. From the above table, it is interesting to note that in Watercourse 3L has highest cropped area of sugarcane, which can be attributed towards a very high water duty, i.e., 6.04 per 1000 and a lower water table depth from the surface, i.e., only 3.33 A, but is high quality groundwater, i.e., 2,363 ppm. However, high groundwater quality leaches down with high water duty. Sugarcane is a very high water-consuming crop, and 16% of the total sugarcane cultivated in this command area is cultivated in this watercourse, which has a CCA of only 622 acres out of a total CCA of 11,924 acres. Sugarcane is at an extreme low in Watercourse 1R where water duty is 1.76, and has a higher water table depth from the surface, i.e., 5.77 A. The high cropped area for wheat in Watercourse SL is due to good ground water quality, i.e., 754 ppm, a normal water table depth from the surface, i.e., 4.73 ft, which is considered quite good for this crop, although its water duty is quite normal, i.e., 2.86. Low-cropped wheat in Watercourse 1R is due to high ground water quality, i.e., 4,771 ppm, and low water table depth from the surface, i.e., 3.72 ft. In the case of chilies, Watercourse 1OL has a high cropped area, the reason being a high water table depth from the surface and high water duty, i.e., 7.96 feet and 7.14 per 1000, respectively. The lowest chilies-cropped watercourse is IL, the reason for this is high ground water quality and low water table depth from surface, i.e., 6,784 ppm and 2.74 A respectively. A study to: (1) identify groundwater contribution to the water requirements of major crops; (2) develop irrigation management strategies for major crops under different water table conditions; and (3) evaluate the effect of groundwater quality on soil 30 Preliminary Business Plan for Bareji Distributary salinization and crop yields under different water table depths have been conducted by Mona Reclamation and Experimental Project (MREP) and Lower Indus (LIM) over a period of three years. The conclusions of this paper are as follows: a. b. C. Low Water table depth from surface is, generally, not conductive for good crop yields. Water supplied to a crop by capillary rise from shallow groundwater can be an important resource. However, it reduces the depth of root zone and increases the threat of soil salinization, especially when ground water quality is inferior, and ultimately affects the crop yields. The general practice of applying 5-6 irrigations to wheat and cotton crops is wasteful and unproductive on soils with water table less than 9 A kom the ground surface. For good yields, 1-2 irrigations at a water table depth of 3 to 6 A, and 2-3 irrigations at a water table depth of 6 to 9 A, are required. At shallow water tables, bed planting of crops not only provides better soil conditions during the rainy season, but also saves more water when compared to conventional flat / basin methods. The results of LIM, based in the Sindh province, identifying groundwater contribution to the water requirement of major crops, is given in Table 22. Table 22. Groundwater cont?bution to Crop Water Requirement of Selected Crops. Source: Benefits of Shallow Drainage, paper by MREP & LIM The data of watercourses of the Bareji Distributary, indicating maximum and minimum crop yields, water table depth from the surface, ground water quality and water duty, is given in Table 23. Table 23. Crop Yields, Water Quality, Water Table Depth fTom Surface and Water Duty of Selected Crops. Farm Income Analysis 31 The high yields for sugarcane and wheat in this command area are nearly equal to those obtained by L M under the relevant water table depths. However, results for cotton are different. Low yields for cotton and wheat are due to high ground water quality in this watercourse, i.e., 3,055 ppm, thus rendering it inappropriate for irrigation use. However, low yields for sugarcane remain to unexplained. The farmers of this distributary normally sell their agriculture produce in the nearby grain market. However, sugarcane and cotton are usually sold to the sugar mills and cotton ginning factories, which are also nearby, while wheat is sold to the food department which purchases it at the rates established by the GoP. The important information regarding maximum and minimum farm-gate prices for major crops is given in Table 24. Table 24. Farm Gate Prices, Water Quality, Water Table Depth and Water Duty of Selected Crops. The mean farm-gate prices for these major crops are calculated at Rs. 20.33 per kg. for cotton, Rs. 0.93 per kg. for sugarcane, Rs. 6.40 per kg. for wheat, Rs. 0.87 per kg. for fodder and Rs. 30.51 per kg. for chilies. The purchase price of wheat is fixed by the GoP. The prices which a crop can fetch depends on its quality, which, in turn, depends on various factors, e.g., availability of water, soil conditions, quality of seed, quantity and quality of fertilizer, pesticides and farming practices. Therefore, the above analysis becomes more meaningful when seen with the farm-input costs, which is explained later in this chapter. Here the purpose is to see the range of prices the farmers of this distributary fetch for major crops. Although bi-products of crops like wheat and cotton are either sold by the farmers, or are consumed domestically, the value of these bi-products has not been considered in this report. Thus, farm revenue, calculated by multiplying the physical productivity with the per unit farm-gate price of the commodity, for the rubi 96/97 and khan197 cropping seasons for the Bareji Distributary command area, comes to Rs. 5,822 and Rs.17,575, respectively, per cropped acre. This comes to a total of Rs. 23,397 per cropped acre. The important information derived from farm revenue analysis for this distributary is given in Table 25. 32 Preliminary Business Plan for Bareji Distributary Particulars Gross Revenue W A m ) Gross Revenue (USWAcre) Table 25. Gross Agriculture Revenue Analysis. AU-Pakistan LBOD 1IMI-various Bareji Baseline DisMbutary 3,644 5,263 3,240- 10,120 10,804 83 120 74 - 230 246 Rate applied 1 US$ = Pakistan Rupees 44.00. The total uncultivated land in this command area categorized as waterlogged, salinized or abandoned is 4,869 acres. The mean gross revenue per cultivated acre is Rs. 23,397, hence, the farmers of this command area, in one cropping season, have lost a gross revenue of about Rs. 113.920 million (US$ 2.589 million). This comes to Rs. 9,553.84 per CCA acre and a decrease in the cropping intensity by 40.83%. The revenue of this command area as compared with other available information for Pakistan, as given in Table 25. Source: Consultancy report by Dr. Christopher Perry The gross revenue of each watercourse of this distributary has been analyzed, important findings of this analysis summarizing the two watercourses with the highest gross revenue, when compared to that of the watercourse earning minimum gross revenue, and the mean gioss revenue, is given in Table 27. Farm Income Analysis 33 Table 27. Maximum, Minimum and Mean Gross Agriculture Revenue within Bareji Distributary. In the case of Watercourse 1 IR, the shortage of water and high quality have been observed as the reasons for the lowest gross revenue. In the case of Watercourse lOL, where there are orchards that do not generate revenue in the rubi season, the main reason for the lowest gross revenue. The other point observed is the effect of non-availability of adequate water on the goss revenue. The gross revenue of Watercourse 1 IR, when compared to the mean gross revenue for the khurifseason of this command area, is less by an amount of Rs. 3,686 per CCA acre. This figure of Rs.3.686 per CCA acre can be considered for the calculation of opportunity cost of water. 3.6 FARM EXPENDITURE ANALYSIS Generally, Farm expenditure is calculated by multiplying the quantity of inputs with the rates of these inputs. Farm expenditure is the sum total of all costs, from sowing to harvesting and marketing. These farm expenses can be classified into fixed costs and variable costs. In fixed costs, fixed taxes, and sometimes the rent of land on opportunity cost-basis, is included. The variable inputs include: land preparation, seed, fertilizer, pesticides, taxes, fuel, and labor. The different methods used to calculate fami expenditures, are: A. Operating expenditures Operating expenditures imply an element of land preparation, inputs, labor, equipment maintenance, fuel, electricity, salaries for kumdurs, etc., the method used to calculate farm expenditures applied for the financial feasibility analysis of the command area. B. Fixed Expenditures land, machinery, family labor, and also, debt payments, installments of machinery, etc.. Fixed expenditures are those which imply an element, like the depreciation of 34 Preliminary Business Plan for Bareji Distributary 3.7 CLASSIFICATION OF FARM INPUTS The most common inputs used by the farmers are seed, fertilizer, pesticides, labor and machinery. 3.7.1 Seed Seed is a symbol and foundation of good plant life. High yielding varieties are suited to the environmental conditions of the area. A seed of good quality is free from off-seeds, weed seeds, broken seeds, admixtures and seed-borne disease. The high germination capacity ensures a good stand of crop, and reduces production costs by providing the seed rate application and achieving high yields. Government agencies and private firms introduce new seed varieties according to climatical conditions. The seed reaches the growers after four stages of seed multiplication: a) Breeder seed, or Nuclear seed b) Foundation seed c) Registered seed d) Certified seed Longevity and germination depends on moisture, oxygen and proper temperature. Three main regulatory agencies are involved in the registration and testing of new varieties, stability and seed certification system. Seed processing is the activity done by the seed agencies or water users. Various operations are required to prepare the harvested seed, which includes drying of raw seed, shelling, cleaning, sizing, grading, treating, packaging and final storage. The above-said operations require equipment when the seed is processed on a large scale, but small scale water users mostly adopt traditional methods. The water users of this command area adopted two ways of procuring seed (1) they purchased seed from the nearby market; and (2) they processed their own seed for future years. The method of utilization varies from crop to crop. 3.7.1.1 cotton Cotton is one of the major crop grown in this command area. Among all cultivated area, the total for the cotton crop is about 47.8%. Cotton seed is mostly purchased from the nearby market. The most common seed vxiiety grown in the Bareji Distributary command area, is NIAB-78. Farm Income Analysis 35 3.7.1.2 Wheat Wheat is a major cereal crop in this command area. Wheat, of the cultivated area, constitutes about 46.3%. The most common seed variety grown by the water users is SARSABZ, which covers almost the entire area under wheat cultivation. The majority of the water users preserve their own seed, while others purchase certified seed every year. 3.7.1.3 Rice Rice cultivation is not so common in this command area, but a few water users cultivate in order to reclaim their land by over-irrigation application, even though rice cultivation is prohibited in project area. IR6 is the common variety grown by the water users. 3. Z 1.4 Sugarcane Sugarcane is the second major crop cultivated in the Bareji Distributary command area. Sugarcane constitutes about 19.0% of total cultivated land. The most common variety cultivated in this command area is EL-4, which covers almost whole the area for sugarcane cultivation, The majority of the water users keep their own seed. 3.X1.5 Chilies Favorable climatic conditions allow water users to grow chilies, the cultivation of which constitutes 10.0% of the cultivated area. The most common variety grown in this project area is LONGY. Most of the growers preserve their own seed, while a few others purchase new seed every year. 3.7.1.6 Onion Onion cultivation is equal to about 8.0% of the total cultivated area. The ability for this crop to mature in a short span of time encourages water users to grow more onions. Onion is mostly inter-cultivated with sugarcane, which reduces production costs, and provides financial benefit to the water users. The most common variety sown in the project area is PHALKARO. Most water users purchase the seed for each season, while others purchase paneen' (small plant). 3.7.2 Fertilizer Fertilizers are one of the most important factors, which, when properly added according to soil conditions in order to supply one, or more, plant nutrients to increase crop yields. There are two major kinds of fertilizers: 3.7.2.1 Manuw Manure is still the backbone in soil fertility. However, due to the rapid increase in the use of commercial fertilizers, as greater interest for the most fruitlid production exists, the use of manure has been neglected. In order to sustain fertility, the use of 36 Preliminary Business Plan for Bareji Distributary manure is imperative for each crop. The manure from poultry and sheep carry the highest percentage of nitrogen,. which is about 15.6% to 14%, respectively. This method is adopted in the project area, but the intensity of applying farm manure is low. 3.7.22 Green Manuring Green manuring is an age-old practice adopted to increase productivity. The crop preferred are usually legumes. The highest amount of nitrogen, in kilogram per hectare, is present in Sum-hemp and Dhanicha, which is about 84.1 and 77.3. This technique is not applied in the command area. 3.Z23 Chemical Fedizer Among the most various nutrients required for plants which are generally available in culturable lands, the most important are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. These elements are available in the market in of four categories of fertilizer: A. Nitrogen fertilizer B. Phosphatic fertilizer C. Patassic fertilizer D. Complex.fertilizer A. Nitrogen Fertilizer Ammonium Sulfate and Calcium Ammonium Nitrate. In Nitrogen fertilizers, the following are available in the market: Urea, B. Phosphatic Fertilizer Phosphate (SSP) and Triple Super Phosphate (TSP). Under this category, the following are available in the market: Single Super C. Potassic Fertilizer In the this category only one is available in the market, i.e., Potassium Sulfate D. Complex Fertilizer or 23*23, Dia-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP), Mono-Ammonium Phosphate, NPK, etc.. For Complex Fertilizer, the following are available in the market: Nitrophos (NF’), The water users along the Bareji Distributary mostly apply fertilizer without any analysis of soil and proper dosage. DAP and UREA are among the most commonly-used fertilizers in this command area, while Nitrophos (23*23) and Ammonium Nitrute are also applied by a few water users. Farm Income Analysis 31 3.7.3 Pesticides Most of the water users apply pesticides after consultation with the dealer. The main focus of the dealers is to get the maximum benefit from the product, so they sell their products with maximum margins. The lack of awareness and little extension services is puzzling to the water users when they attempt to select proper pesticides for affected crops. They apply pesticides without diagnosis. They are also unfamiliar with proper methods and times to spray. The most common pesticides used for cotton and chilies are THAIODAN, TALSTAR, KARATE, NOVACRAN, MATHAMADOPHOS. Water users apply PADAN to sugarcane and rice crops. Pesticides are not used for the wheat crop, and only few fanners us weedicide for wheat crops. 3.7.4 Machinery Rentals preparation. The farmers of Bareji command area mostly rent out machinery for land 3.7.4.1 LundPrejmration From the time of preparation of land to harvesting the crop, water users pass through different mechanical equipment used in agri-business, especially in the first stage of land preparation, which requires more concentration for the grower. The purpose of tillage is to cut loose, granulate and invert the soil, and to prepare a seed bed that would provide adequate soil and water environment for the plant. The useful purposes of tillage are seed bed preparation, weed control, mixing crop residue, shatter clay pans, breakup compaction, and soil and water conservation to improve water. The water users of the Bareji Distributary adopt mechanical ma