Off-season agriculture thrives in Thar with sun-powered sprinklers

HYDERABAD: Muhammad Saleh, a farmer belonging to famous Gorano village near Islamkot in Tharparkar district has cultivated off-season vegetables to sell them in the local markets before the traditional crops they produce after receiving monsoon rains, which are expected soon, and its paying.

The most inspiring thing is that these farmers continue earning Rs1,000 to Rs1,500 daily throughout the lockdown period by producing fresh vegetables in their fields. The farmers believe that off-season vegetables had a demand in local markets, mostly people of neighbouring towns are their valuable customers to buy all arranged products.

Saleh has got solar-operating sprinkling irrigation system to cultivate off-season vegetables like baingan (Eggplant), turai (ridged gourd), chilli and fodder grass on three-acre land.

The family owns 160 acres of land, which they usually cultivate after receiving heavy rains. He was looking optimistic to receive more rains soon to use entire land, cultivating traditional crops, like pearl millet, guar, mung bean etc.

He wanted to cultivate onion as the next immediate crop at the desert land, which he believes is quite profitable. He was fully involved with family members to take care of standing chili crop, which he expects to bear product within a few days. Earlier, Nangarparkar area was the only place to produce onions but now more farmers in the desert district have got sprinkling irrigation system to produce off-season onion to earn enough.

These farmers do not need to bear the cost of transportation for taking products to urban markets, as the neighboring people themselves come to them for purchasing produce for their own consumption. Since the farmers have small-scale entrepreneurship, they earn little daily through local clients.

These crops do not need any chemical input at any stage. That is why Thar Desert area is considered producing organic vegetables, fruits, and grasses.

The desert farmers have more experience of witnessing changing rain patterns. In case of delayed rainfall in June, July and August the communities face hardships without food for human and fodder grasses for livestock’s consumption.

Fortunately, the communities in scattered areas in Thar have received rains this year, some of farmers are expecting to cultivate pearl millet, which is considered the main edible crop in the area.

Hakeema Odhejo wife of Khan Muhammad, a farmer, residing in village Arreri surrounded by sand dunes, claimed to have harvested three off-season crops during two consecutive years, including onions and variety of vegetables at her family’s piece of land and made good money.

“I have got 70 maund (40kg) onion, which I sold at Rs1,500/maund at local market,” she said. Presently, besides fodder grasses of maize, ridged gourd and baingan (eggplant) are ready for picking for sale.

The family possesses eight acres of the land, which they usually cultivate in rains for having reasonable stock of food and fodder for the family consumption. But after installing this novel sprinkling irrigation system, they look comfortable to utilize the land to produce a variety of vegetables and grasses to earn on daily basis.

The family of Odhejo has 25 goats, which graze on green lands, instead of moving out to consume dusty grasses.

Bachal Kumbhar residing in village Lakar Khadio, Nagarparkar is among 12 farmers, who have cultivated perennial Rajigira (amaranth), a little-known food crop, whose flour the local people in Thar desert use to make meals, pakoras, and sweets for entertaining guests or cook on happy occasions. It is a delicious food item, which the local people love to consume. The prices of amaranth in local market ranges from Rs500-600 per kg.

The farmers who have adopted off-season crops, both food and grass fodder, earn better compared to their traditional crops in rainy season.

Sindh government, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Global Environment Facility (GEF) has initiated a project “Sustainable Land Management Programme to combat desertification in the district”.

Thardeep Rural Development Programme (TRDP), a village support organisation is implementing the project with local communities to alleviate poverty and save the land through introducing crops and planting trees.

Dileep Lohano of TRDP said the programme mainly focused on arid and semi-arid areas of the province for sustainable land and natural resources management to alleviate poverty and minimise environmental degradation to maintain the continuous flow of ecosystem services, while increasing resilience to climate change.

“The majority of communities in Thar depend on rain-fed agriculture and livestock rearing for livelihood. Entire rural entrepreneurship and wage labour are linked with rainfall. There is a tradition that during difficult time, Thari people prefer to sell their small animals to meet the immediate needs,” Lohano said.

Lohano said these farmers in the desert areas did not have knowledge about modern techniques to adopt for cultivating a larger piece of land. “For example, they have introduced sprinkling irrigation system at the smaller pieces of lands so the farmers can adopt and have their own source for the purpose,” he said.

He claims to have designed 20 village land use plans, in which they have identified the eligibility of farmers, who may have a piece of land with better soil conditions and grazing fields for animals and get a solar-run sprinkling system installed.

“Now a small number of farmers have their own sprinkling irrigation system to produce off-season vegetables without using chemical input and living safe,” he said.

Lohano said sprinkling water system saved water and prevented wastage and over consumption. “Tree plantation to develop green fencing along the field is mandatory for farmers to cope with land degradation, ”Lohano said adding, “Apart from this, the farmers are being encouraged to develop oasis forests near their fields.”

Thar desert is among a few areas, where the communities preserve their indigenous seed varieties and produce organic food and fodder. Otherwise, in canal areas the people have lost these indigenous seeds and adopted hybrid seeds, which need more water and chemical input, mounting financial burden on farmers.

It has been observed that farmers in the canal areas (where irrigation water is available) are experiencing hardship because of hybrid seeds, which have low percentage of germination.

Land degradation has become a common issue in Thar, where trees, plants and shrubs are depleting at a faster pace. The delayed and low rainfalls have been blamed for creating problems for the community, causing land degradation.

The communities pointed out that the recent rains have benefitted some areas, where farmers are preparing to cultivate traditional crops and herders looking safe in terms to have grasses in the natural grazing fields, soon.