Model Farming
project in 100 villages
ISLAMABAD-Model Farming Project will be replicated in 100
villages of the country in the next phase and it will cover 49
villages of Punjab, 28 Sindh, 14 NWFP and 9 in Balochistan.
The government is considering some modifications in the
projects design to further enhance the utility and benefits of
the programme to enable the growers to increase their crops
productivity.
It has been decided that a strong training component for
involved agriculture officers and other staff will be included
in the Project.
Official sources said that FAO is providing necessary
assistance and co-operation to the growers and farmers
community.
During Phase-I project, villages "Malo-Mahay" in Daska Tehsil
of Sialkot District and "44-SB" in Sargodha District of Punjab
and village "Loke" in D.I. Khan District, of NWFP were
selected as pilot areas.
The productivity at village level of first wheat crop (1998-
99) under this project enhanced by 51.5% at Daska and 28.0% at
Sargodha over benchmark productivity level. Productivity of
second wheat crop (1999-2000) increased by 61.5% and 62.9% at
Sargodha and Daska pilot sites, respectively (Table 1 & 2).
Increase in wheat productivity as village level in D.I.Khan
was to the tune of 168% during Rabi 1999-2000 (Table 4).
Under the Pilot Project , modern agriculture technology is
being transferred to the growers and farmers of the village
for enhancing per acre yield of different crops especially
rice and wheat.
The main objective of this programme is to supplement the
country's ongoing efforts to increase food production through
increasing productivity for improving national food security
and meet rapidly growing food demand as well as to reduce
seasonal and year to year variability in production on
economically and environmentally sustainable basis.
The approach of this programme is technology-led and farmers
participation at all stages, field activities will be
implemented under farmers leadership and participation while
the programme will provide technical assistance and means and
tools required for effective implementation. The programme is
multi-disciplinary covering the whole process in the system.
Provincial governments are providing technical services at
each project village to guide and assist the farmers at their
door-step. For ensuring future sustainability, Input Sale
Center (ISC), Farm Services Center (FSC) and Revolving Fund
Account (RFA) have been established at each village under the
supervision of VO.
Small scale poultry farming, bee keeping establishment of
plant nursery and fish farming were introduced for income
diversification. The SPFS pilot project provided 500 birds at
Sargodha and a shed of 1000 sq feet.
Looking at the profitability of this trade, the farmers by
their own investment, built seven additional sheds having
11,000 sq feet covered area and put 12,000 one day old layer
chicks for initiating second cycle of rural poultry farming.
The 11 fold increase in poultry shed area and 24 fold increase
in number of chicks was possible in one years time. The bee
farming also rapidly popularized and number of bee colonies
grew by 56% from 50 to 78 during the same period. On average,
each farmer got five honey crops producing 2127 Kg of honey
giving an average gross return of Rs 30,424 to each farmer
within 22 months time.
The total cost of look after and transportation of five bee
boxes was about Rs 8500 during the same period. This gives a
net profit of Rs 21,924 to each farmer from five bee boxes.
This kind of profit is equivalent to an earning from 6 acres
of wheat crop, 21/2 acres of cotton crop and 5 acres of rice
crop. The farmers are planning to increase their bee colonies
and some farmers are planning to make new boxes and sell those
to interested farmers.
The Food Security Pilot Project assisted by Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been initiated to increase
per acre yield of Wheat and Rice.
Food Security Programme (Phase-I) was launched by Ministry of
Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) in collaboration with
the provinces of Punjab, NWFP and Sindh.
Initially, it is a pilot project for two years but likely to
continue in other villages, districts and provinces of the
country during its expansion phase with the financial
assistance of multilateral donors and federal and provincial
Governments.
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