Pakistan - Achievements

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Achievements

Key indicators and performance for 2008-09

Indicator: Innovative approaches to agricultural extension being piloted in the broadacre cropping, horticultural and dairy sectors underpinned by the development and dissemination of consolidated technology packages

Performance: Technology packages were developed through broadacre cropping projects and dairy, citrus and mango projects, and piloted using a number of innovative approaches, including NGO partnerships and a 2 year pilot program involving 200 smallholder farmers in two areas of Punjab state.

Indicator: Results of policy analysis in the horticulture sector influencing government policymaking

Performance: Analysis has influenced Pakistan Government policymaking for mangoes and citrus, with draft standards developed for nursery trees and nursery hygiene, and a commercial mango export trial to China used to test a newly agreed free trade provision, along with development of a formal cool-chain and marketing system.

Indicator: Framework for monitoring and optimising irrigation water management developed with key stakeholders in the Lower Chenab basin

Performance: The project has been extended after delays due to extensive staff changes and security problems restricting travel.

Indicator: At least 40% of new projects designed to have components leading to significant farmer or policy impacts within 5 years of completion

Performance: No new projects were developed or implemented in Pakistan in 2008–09.

Achievements from the 2008-09 Annual Report

Subprogram 1: Developing more productive and competitive mango and citrus production and marketing systems

There are four areas of focus in the ASLP mango production project. These are: establishment of clean nurseries; improvements in orchard husbandry; detection and management of mango sudden death; and improvements in training and extension. During the first year of the project, operations centred on establishment activities, with structures at the Mango Research Station at Shujabad in Punjab and another at the Sindh Horticulture Research Institute at Mirpurkhas in Sindh refurbished as functional research nurseries. Private commercial nursery operators have been encouraged to establish model commercial nurseries in each of the two main mango production regions of Punjab and Sindh. Other operators could learn from these nurseries and duplicate them in their establishments. One private commercial nursery operator from Multan visited Australia and received training through a Crawford Fund training fellowship. He has now commenced construction and establishment of the model commercial nursery in the Multan area.

Much of Pakistan’s fruit and vegetable production, including mangoes, is not fully utilised, due to poor harvesting, handling and other postharvest practices. A project is addressing key constraints currently limiting the efficiency, effectiveness and competitiveness of supply chains for Pakistan mangoes, examining ways to improve and maintain mango quality from harvest to consumption. The project is identifying present market needs and likely future opportunities for Pakistan mangoes, through analysis of existing supply chains and the development of improved supply-chain management systems and practices. Experiments have addressed the issues of optimum storage, ripening procedures, assessment of harvest maturity and identification of postharvest diseases for the two main commercial mango cultivars (Chaunsa and Sindhri). Along with these trials a hot water treatment (HWT) assessment, which was not in the original plan, also took place to facilitate mango export to countries that require HWT disinfestation. In 2007 China was identified as a potential market for Pakistan mangoes. In September 2008 two groups of four final semester undergraduates of the University of Queensland’s Agribusiness program took 40 kg of Pakistani Chaunsa mangoes to Beijing and Guangzhou to evaluate the market response. Their findings are being used as the basis for a commercial trial shipment to China.

Pakistan has set an annual export target for citrus of 500,000 t within the next 5 years, and $300 million in export earnings by 2013, but some key constraints need to be addressed to achieve these ambitious targets. A project aims to improve mandarin and orange productivity in Pakistan and Australia through improved nursery production practices and production; demonstration of ‘best-practice’ orchard management; and enhanced research, extension and production capacity of Pakistan citrus institutions and industry.

Although hampered by the security situation in Pakistan, work has continued. The Australian citrus team has prepared an irrigation and nutrition program for a drip and sprinkler system in Pakistan. Fact sheets about the new varieties and rootstock have been prepared and a phenology calendar (describing the year-round climatic and seasonal changes affecting citrus) will be ready after the completion of the current growing season. Four staff members from various collaborative institutes in Pakistan visited Australian and received training in plant propagation and nursery techniques, irrigation systems, tree pruning and thinning, basic nutrition and other research techniques.

Subprogram 2: Improving livelihoods for dairy farmers

In spite of the importance of the dairy industry to Pakistan's economy and food supply, the productivity of buffalo/cows owned by smallholder farmers dependent on an income from three to ten head is poor by world standards. Much of the technology required to boost efficiency is available but is not readily disseminated nor adopted by the farming community. A project is demonstrating the economic and social benefits of improved extension services to smallholder dairy farmers, and also collecting, enhancing and disseminating knowledge relevant to smallholder dairy systems. A baseline longitudinal survey is providing information on existing farm practices, feeding regimes, milk production and husbandry practices across 200 farms. Training has been provided for field extension workers and cooperating farmers, who have been introduced to the principles of feed and water management, cow health, calf rearing and reproductive management. The longitudinal survey has allowed the project team to monitor the impact of change in farming practices on productivity and farm income. The results of this survey will be important in providing a benchmark for future operations.

Subprogram 3: Management of land and water resources to sustain productive enterprises

The practice of irrigated maize–wheat cropping on permanent raised beds (PRBs) has been shown to save water and increase yields in Pakistani conditions. A project has sought to optimise the raised bed system, focusing on soil management and impacts caused by the new system, and the best-bet technology for raised beds, including low-cost machinery. Research has been underway since 2004, and two manufacturers are now producing quality replicas of the Australian PRB bedformer/renovator and no-till seeder, and other manufacturers are presently being courted. Analyses of all the research and farmer-demonstration data from Mardan confirm earlier findings in both the type and magnitude of improvements derived from PRB farming.

The Punjab Irrigation and Drainage Authority operate and maintain one of the largest irrigation canal systems in the world. However, the system now requires major rehabilitation and improvement to meet present-day demands. Recent analysis shows that the inequity of water distribution between head-enders and tail-enders is closely correlated to decreasing yields and increasing salinity with greater distance from the canal. Identifying opportunities for equitable distribution of canal water and groundwater to improve livelihoods through maximising crop production and managing salinisation in irrigated landscapes is underway. The project team is developing the hydrologic–economic modelling tools capable of scenario analysis of water distribution as a function of the crop–groundwater–soil mix—at the farm level and also at distributary and minor canal levels—a first in Pakistan. Remote sensing tools and hydrological data are being coupled with socioeconomic data to develop surface water and groundwater supply-and-demand management options at various spatial scales, to tailor water sector adaptations to changing water regimes.