grain crop and is mixed in grasses for livestock.
Farmers say lobia sells at Rs,2000 to Rs4,000 per mound in the local market, depending on the quality of the product and the market’s ups and downs. Lobia seeds are sold in the market at Rs100 per kg.
The data about non-irrigated lands shows that out of cultivable 22.2 million hectares in the four provinces of Pakistan, about a quarter rely on monsoon rains for winter crops.
In the barani areas of Sindh comprising Jamshoro, Thatta, Dadu and Qambar-Shahdadkot districts, have their own problems in terms of rainfall and water availability in rivers during the monsoons.
If the peasants receive more water from natural watercourses they usually plough the fields several times to conserve moisture and to improve soil fertility. If they receive water in August, they chose to cultivate lobia and jowar. Winter crops are sown between late October and mid-December.
Rabadino Nihalani, a grower of village Khamiso Nihalani, said he has cultivated lobias on ten acres of his piece of twenty acres. He expects to harvest 10-15 mounds. Lobia is a crop which does not need fertiliser.
Nihalani village receives water from four watercourses, which helped its inhabitants in cultivation and recharges their wells. There is no hand pump in many areas and the communities depend on wells for drinking water.
Peasant Maula Bakhsh Nihalani is worried, however. Since his 25 acres of land are still under floodwaters he may not be able to sow any crop in the forthcoming kharif season. Nihalani village has about 85 households belonging to the same clan. Rain-fed watercourses named Gundy, Khamisro, Bharni and Ghindoro river are close to the Nihalanis’ lands. Their forefathers used to maintain these watercourses and sow their crops by using a pair of bullocks. Now there are only tractors to be used, which is why they cannot bear the cost of cultivation.
Khalid Saifullah of Oxfam says researchers have been hired to find out how barani areas in Sindh can be brought under cultivation through alternative irrigation systems involving diversion of the watercourses for cultivation of crops.
According to him, spate irrigation can play a vital role in poverty alleviation in the poorer areas of Sindh. He said the government should allocate resources for maintenance of the spate irrigation system. This irrigation system will not only contribute to the ensuring of food security but also generate income for the communities in hilly areas, he added.
Leaders of the Barani Growers Organisation say that the government should take up this issue at the level of policy-making to ensure equal distribution of water, maintenance of watercourses through de-silting, and repairing of structures which were made during the British era.
They also said the government should announce support prices of their products and provide seeds and tools at subsidises rates.