Current production systems

Farmers in the NA are mostly subsistence farmers whose main aim is to produce enough grains, meat and milk to satisfy household consumption demands.

Farming practices are characterized by various kinds of transhumance. The farming system is dominated by animals, farmland and pastures. Animals are integrated in the farming system and provide valuable manure to maintain soil fertility of irrigated farmland. A typical geographical sequence of farming activities is as follow:

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m The lowest part, the river banks of the Indus is not cultivated due to flooding and difficulties in constructing irrigation channels:

m The main village farmland is located on river fans in the valley bottom of the tributaries and on alluvial deposits in the hill-sides in side valleys. In the lower parts of the valleys double cropping allows for two staple food crops. Wheat in winter (November-July) and maize in summer (June/July-October) while in the marginal single crop zone (1900-2300m) maize is the main crop (growing season: (May to October). Which can be converted in double cropping zone by introducing early maturing barley and wheat (Oct. June – July) and maize (June-July-Oct) and improved cultural/modern management practices. In the single crop zone maize /wheat/potato/vegetable are grown for human consumption. In both the double and the single crop zones some vegetables for home consumption and fodder for winter-feeding are grown. The land is irrigated with water supplied by diverting river tributaries or springs and snow melt through canals in the hill sides. During winter animals are free to graze on crop land, a practice which makes the adoption of new practices such as the introduction of winter fodder species difficult;

m The marginal single crop zone 1900-2300m is presently utilised as a single cropland which can be converted in to double crop zone by introducing early maturing wheat and barley genotypes and improved modern management practices

m Above the farmland on the lower side of the irrigation canals water is released to occasionally irrigate a mixture of forest and fruit trees, shrub and grassland.

Grass is used to produce hay for winter feeding; tree foliage is used for animal feed in autumn and the trees provide firewood and timber

m Above this village forest/pasture area, the mountain side is up to an elevation of above 3000 m where the high forest starts and reaches up to some 4000 m.

This area includes also alpine pastures which are to valley farming since they supply grazing for sheep. goats and cattle in summer. Usufruct rights are customary to the various valleys and villages . Farm households use these pastures in two different ways: (i) part of the family moves to the alpine pasture and stays there during summer while some family members stay in the village to attend the fields and some cattle which are not taken to the high pasture; or (ii) farmers may leave their animals with semi-nomadic "Gujars)" who herd the flock during summer and are paid by giving usufruct rights to milk and wool while the animals are in their custody.

Through this kind of transhumance, people are able to exploit the whole ecosystem of the valleys. The various niches are interdependent in an integrated system of irrigation. Farmland needs manure to be productive and the alpine pasture makes it possible to keep herds sufficiently big to supply meat and milk to the family and manure to maintain soil fertility. The complementarity between irrigated cropland and alpine pasture is made possible by the existence of the village forest/pasture area which supplies winter fodder in addition to some cultivated annual or pluri-annual irrigated fodder crops such as shaftal (Trifolium resupinatum, Perian clover) and alfalfa (Medicago sativum)

2.1.1.3.1. Management practices

In spite of some limited adoption of improved seeds in case of major crops and fertilizer application in varying doses, farming practices of the area are generally

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traditional for several reasons including: (i) poor quality of soil with low productivity (ii) small plot size limited by terraces especially in the valleys: (iii) uneconomic holding sizes: (iv) physical limitation for the distribution of irrigation water: (v) non-availability of quality improved seeds; and (vi) generally weak downstream services.

2.1.1.3.2. Land preparation

Land is generally prepared by plough . Although tractors are available in all major valleys., farmers use little mechanical traction because of small plot size and of steep terraced land. For land preparation, mainly draft animals are used while tractors are mainly used for transport. The fact that many farmers have only one draft animal or no draft animal at all, confirms that a large proportion of farmers depend on others’ animals for land preparation and other operations as well.

Households possessing only one head share with others.

2.1.1.3.3. Cultural practices

Almost all field operations between land preparation and harvesting, such as sowing, thinning, weeding and fertilizing are done manually and/or with implements. Farmyard manure is used by all farmers and is given at a rate of 10-20 t/ha to wheat in the double cropping zone or to maize in single cropped areas.

Manure application is, however, reported to be decreasing as an increasing shortage of fuel-wood is compensated by using manure for fuel. Chemical fertilizer is used by many farmers mainly in the form of urea and di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) nitro-phosphate/single super phosphate are used if available. Fertilizer use is, however, arbitrary as no locally tested fertilizer recommendations are available.

Non timely availability of chemical fertilizers and high prices due to black marketing are the main causes for limited use of fertilizers otherwise recommendations are available locally as given below:

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Table 13: E ffect of different fertilizer levels on grain yield of 5 maize cultivars ( To n e s / h e c t a r e )

Fertilizer level Mean grain yield (T/ha) of 5 cultivars (in Nutrient kg)

N P₂O₅ PR-80 Khyber Sarhad Changez Azam F.AV.

00 00 1.650 1.437 1.621 1.739 1.708 1.631

50 00 2.508 2.305 2.787 3.394 3.280 2.855

50 25 3.610 3.500 3.878 4.667 4.238 3.969

75 25 4.930 3.950 4.980 5.632 5.500 4.998

75 50 4.980 4.210 5.660 6.515 6.405 5.554

100 50 5.880 4.880 6.320 7.590 7.220 6.398

100 75 6.135 5.350 6.890 7.990 8.110 6.895

125 75 7.226 6.360 7.880 8.780 8.970 7.843

125 100 7.780 6.800 8.330 9.300 9.120 8.266

150 100 8.870 7.890 9.240 9.870 9.640 8.266

150 125 8.900 7.995 9.480 10.160 10.110 9.329

175 125 8.700 8.150 9.670 10.580 10.490 9.718

Nur Mean 5.847 3.236 6.395 7.185 7.066 6.39

Source: Department of Agriculture Northern Areas Gilgit

Seed rates are high. Particularly for maize (60-100 kg/ha) since green fodder from thinning is at least as important as grain. Varieties used are mainly traditional although research has tested and recommended some improved varieties, which are now on Government seed farms. Most of these varieties have been developed long ago by the Pakistan research system and maintenance of variety characteristics is reported to be a problem due to a limited capacity for maintenance breeding.