Boosting canola cultivation

Post Source: Dawn – Economic and Business Review – By Fahim Nawaz

WITH the increase in procurement price of wheat, there has been a considerable decrease in area for cultivation of oilseed crops resulting in lower production of edible oil this year. About 0.8 million tons of edible oil was produced locally which was merely 27 per cent of the domestic need. The rest 1.29 million tons were imported at a cost of Rs84 billion.

Rising imports can only be curtailed by promoting oilseed cultivation. Farmers prefer to grow grain and fibre crops which give them better return than the oilseed crops. Meanwhile, Minfal has reported that canola is a more beneficial crop which gives an average profit of Rs3,843 per acre as compared to Rs4,218 per acre from sunflower.

Cottonseed, rapeseed/mustard, sunflower and canola are the major oilseed crops. High levels of erucic acid and glucosides in rape and mustard seeds make them undesirable for health. Canola, also known as double-zero or double-low oilseed, is comparatively a new crop for the country. It was cultivated on experimental basis in 1985. Its cultivation on commercial scale started in 1995.

Canola contains 33 per cent protein, eight per cent fat and 10 per cent fibre. The low levels of erucic acid and glucosides in canola oil make it safe for health. Only 0.051 million tons of canola oil was produced in 2008-09 that is 6.5 per cent of the total production of edible oil. In the course of time, the area under canola cultivation decreased from 0.42 million hectares in 2007-08 to 0.26 million hectares in 2008-09.

There are various advantages of growing canola as it gives more profit than wheat and can be planted with the same expertise required for wheat crop. It also protects the soil from erosion during its early growth.

Canola requires well-drained, fertile, silt loam soils. Clayey soils may cause problems as the crown may get exposed to weather injury due to shrinking and swelling of the soil. Zero-tillage planting of canola is also in practice but relatively shallow, finely prepared seedbed allows uniform seeding depth. The use of fertiliser in the root zone is improved by tillage that minimises the chance of insect injury to seedlings. However, under rain- fed conditions, zero-tillage should be preferred to retain moisture in the soil.

The seeds should be sown in narrow rows (6-7 inches wide) using a grain drill, at a rate of 1.5 kg per acre. The Pakistan Oilseed Development Board (PODB) provides canola seed at provincial directorates and regional offices. Optimum seeding depth is about 1/2 inch. Sowing in depth makes it difficult for the tiny seedlings to emerge from the soil. It should be planted early so that the plant attains a height of 8-10 inches before the approach of freezing temperature.

The crop requires very little application of fertiliser. Use of urea helps the crop to survive under severe winter conditions and increases the crown size. The proper time for application of fertilisers is the sowing time, during second irrigation and at the time of bud formation. Excessive application of urea can cause lodging problems. Sulphur is also required for good yield of canola but most of it is available from soil. It should be applied in sandy soils and those containing low organic matter. Sulphur helps in the development of fertile canola flowers. It increases vegetative growth; total dry matter production, pod numbers and seed yield with increased amounts of protein in seeds.

Canola can also be grown by organic methods. The cover crops and tillage before planting help control weeds and eliminate need of herbicides. Nitrogen requirement of the crop can be met from a cover crop. It requires adequate nitrogen for growth needing application of manure, but injury to canola vegetation should be avoided.

Canola requires irrigation soon after the seeding has been completed. It usually requires two flood irrigations during the growing season but flooding the crop earlier may cause damage to the crop by drowning or washing the young plants out of the ground. The most important time for flood irrigation is during the late vegetative stage and during early to mid blooming.

Light, frequent water applications until the crop has fully emerged avoid crusting. At vegetative stage, moisture levels should be maintained above 50 per cent in the active root zone throughout the growing season to minimise stress.

Canola uses large amounts of moisture during flowering. In case of limited soil moisture, the most important times to surface irrigate canola is during the late vegetative stage and during early to mid blooming. Moisture stress during the late vegetative to spiking stage results in uneven growth, abortion of flowers and reduced yields. The maintenance of good soil moisture conditions lengthens the flowering period, increases the number of seeds per pod, increases seed weight, and also improves oil quality and content.

The crop may be attacked by various insect pests like aphids, white fly, painted bug and saw fly. But aphids are most serious insect pests. The selection of resistant varieties can help reduce yield losses by these insect pests.

The crop should be harvested when 40-50 per cent pods become brown and seed become reddish. Seed should not have more than eight per cent moisture and two per cent inert matter. The moisture level for long-term storage should not be more than nine per cent. If moisture is high, it will heat up quickly.

The development of new varieties of canola, both synthetic and hybrid, by Pakistan Oilseed Development Board (PODB) with indigenous resources, is highly appreciable. These varieties have given better results than the imported cultivars and helped reduce the cost and increase the benefit of the farmers.

Active implementation of PODB programme is needed to promote canola cultivation and motivate the farmers. The government should also install more oil expellers and processing units. Currently, there are three mini oilseed processing plants of PODB at Tarnab, Peshawar, Lakhi (Sindh) and Gandahawa (Balochistan). The installation of more processing plants in different areas would motivate the farmers to cultivate canola and other oilseed crops which would help lower the edible oil import bill. Private sector should also be encouraged to invest in this sector.

Rains may ruin 3m tons of wheat lying in the open

Post Source: Dawn – By Khaleeq Kiani – Friday, 04 Dec, 2009 

ISLAMABAD: A slow lifting of wheat by the provinces may develop into a crisis in the coming weeks as more than three million tons of the produce stocked in the open could be damaged in case of rains. The governments in the four provinces, Northern Areas and the Azad Kashmir have been very slow in lifting the wheat from the government stocks because they still had carryover from last year as well as the imported commodity to consume, sources in the food ministry said. 

Sindh’s lifting of wheat is less than half the quantity of last year, while Punjab is gradually increasing releases to the flour mills, these sources said, adding total lifting of wheat by all the provinces and other areas is about 26,000 tons per day against more than 40,000 tons same period last year. These sources said that a major chunk of over three million tons stocks that are lying outside in the open could be damaged in case of rains and environmental moisture although stocks available with food departments are properly covered with Tarpaulin and placed on secure plinths. Sources in the Punjab government said there were large quantities of wheat in the open lacking proper storage facilities and could catch ground moisture. 

At the same time, wheat sowing this year is almost on target, which is expected to improve per acre yield and overall production. This would mean that the country would have highest ever carryover stocks when the new crop starts arriving in April next year, leaving a lot of exportable surplus, the sources said.

The government will have to take an immediate decision to allow wheat export now otherwise it would become difficult to handle huge stocks after few months, sources said. They further said the government should have considered not procuring next year crop but that would have sent a wrong signals to the growers. That is why the government has already announced to procure at least 7.5 million tons next season at official rates to ensure better output. 

Federal Agricultural Development Commissioner Qadir Buksh Baloch said that the country had about eight million tons of wheat stocks as of November, almost 300 per cent more than last year’s 2.7 million tons. He, however, said that the arrangements, including fumigation and covers, made by provincial food departments were sufficient and could protect the produce for three years.

Mr Baloch said the sowing was in full swing and hoped that sowing target of over nine million hectare would be achieved. So far, sowing on about 4.8 million hectare has been completed, which accounts for 54 per cent of target but about four per cent less than 5.1 million hectares of the same time last year.

He said Punjab was given a sowing target of 6.8 million hectare for the year and so far sowing has been completed on about 3.7 million hectare against 4.1 million hectare last year. Sowing in Sindh has reached 0.38 million hectares against a target of one million hectares last year’s same period sowing of 0.34 million hectare. In NWFP and Balochistan sowing is almost the same as last year.

Mr Baloch said the farmers were able to produce 24 million tons of wheat last season because they were offered international prices that resulted in increase in per acre yield to 27 maund from 24 maund a year before. Next season, the target is to increase per acre yield to 30 maund to achieve 25 million tons of production target.

Farmers’ access to marketing centres

Post Source: Dawn Economic and Business Review

By Rauf Nizamani Monday, 30 Nov, 2009

“LACK of physical infrastructure such as roads, warehouses, refrigerated units, refrigerated transport and cargo services at airports limits the ability of the private sector in Pakistan to modernise agriculture and deliver benefits back to farmers,” says a report of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Among other things, especially from farm-to-market roads play a very important role in increasing the agricultural production and the well-being of the rural population by bringing the outside world within the easy access of farmers and the rural dwellers. They facilitate transportation and the use of modern farm inputs and the timely marketing of farm produce.

The direct link with the marketing centres obviates the need for farmers to deal with the middle man. This easier access mode affects cropping patterns and encourages farmers to switch to cash crops. After its first involvement in the road project in Pakistan, Asian Development Bank (ADB) came out with a report which says that the project created an environment for increased production, additional employment and huge business opportunities. New small-scale cottage industries and road-side stalls were set up. The number of shops in the villages increased. Access to health and education improved. The beneficiary of this project was the rural community.

But the developing countries do not have the financial means to undertake large infrastructure in rural areas. The responsibility for farm-to-market roads has been given to local government bodies including union councils etc. These are mainly financed by federal/provincial governments grants.

The importance of the rural roads may not be overestimated in a country like Pakistan whose 21 per cent of GDP comes from agriculture and two-third of the total population lives in rural areas. The country has a road net-work of 258350 km, up merely by 12.5 per cent from 229595 km in 1996-97. The existing availability of the farm-to-market roads is 97881km targeted to be increased to 99881km in 2009-10.

Recently, a World Bank report has noted that the under-performance of transport infrastructure costs the economy Rs300 billion per year.

The Asian Development Bank is of the view that while the network of national and provincial roads seems to be adequate but it lacks quality service delivery and needs to be upgraded. Rural roads are inadequate and also lack the quality to serve the needs of rural areas. Thus it focuses primarily on the provincial networks, the components of which range from heavily trafficked multi-lane highways to remote rural access roads and in particular in improving the capabilities of the agencies that are responsible for the networks, both for human capital and regulatory framework.

While the World Bank focuses on the national highway system and is assisting in the establishment of a road fund, the ADB complements those efforts by assisting in the establishment of provincial road fund and selective interventions in the national highway system with the provincial bias. This strategy seeks to emphasise poverty reduction linkages, and focuses on sector revenues and operation and maintenance expenditures.

Although the viability of private sector involvement in development of arterial roads through BOT projects appears uncertain, the scope for private sector participation in construction and operation of rural roads, while limited, is also being explored. Japan also has accepted a request to fund the Rs10 billion project for construction of about 3000 km farm-to-market roads in selected districts in four provinces in two phases, to be funded through Japan Bank of International Cooperation. This will help remove a major constraint in achieving the desired goals of socio-economic development in rural areas.