Farm

Dirt can be referred to as a relatively soft, loose sedimentations which can be excavated by manus or tool Sutton, 1993. Soil comprises of two different constituents, minerals derived from enduring stones and organic minerals derived from workss and micro-organisms ( Michael & A ; Donald, 1999 ) . Contaminated dirt by hint of metals is an issue that requires attending because of the consequence it might do on to planetary environment and human wellness ( Abrahams, 2002 ) . Expert in the survey of dirt provinces that there are differences between rural and urban dirt by measuring the sum of hint metals ( Kabata-Pendias, 2001 ) .

Application of inordinate chemicals for illustration fertilisers, weedkillers or sewerage sludge from intervention works for more outputs without sing the short or long term consequence has made dirt to go a limited resource particularly in towns and metropoliss for largely allotment holders. These chemicals contain important sum of hint metals which bit by bit accumulate in the dirt over clip and finally pollute the dirt rendering it useless for development ( Adriano, 2001 ) .

Allotment dirts which are largely for cultivation of harvests and veggies for human ingestion requires serious attending. This is true for Marsh lane allocations in London which is extremely contaminated with heavy metals ( Jeffries & A ; Martin, 2009 ) .Heavy metals and organic contaminations on dirt surface can present menaces to human wellness in the close hereafter for allotment holder if redress is non put into consideration instantly ( London Development Agency, 2005 ) .

It is hence necessary to measure dirt belongingss for any dirt hazard or suitableness appraisal for lodging with workss, grass, bushs and trees. This is because all dirt belongingss can act upon the behavior of hint metals every bit shortly as the heavy metals are absorbed by dirts and workss.

1. AIM

The purpose of this study is to entree the sum of metal taint and bioavailability/mobility of selected hint of elements at Tolworth Court Farmland, for suitableness of the intended land usage.

The aims of the study are:

• To study and take samples from Tolworth tribunal farm.
• To find dirt PH value.
• To find dirt organic affair. ( SOM )
• To find cation exchange capacity ( CEC )
• To find the entire hint metal component from dirt utilizing HNO3 and ICP-AES.
• To find the possible bioavailability of hint component with IM HN4NO
• To find suitableness for land intent.

2.0 Materials and Methods

2.1 Soil Sampling

A figure of quality composite samples were gotten through the usage of satisfied random trying method. The equipment was exhaustively clean before continuing to each intended country to avoid taint from one point to another and samples were collected at the deepness of 10cm utilizing a manus plumber’s snake. All dirt samples collected in paper bags were labelled.

2.2 Soil Preparations.

Dirt samples were grinded. Prior to analysis samples were air dried at 40oC for three yearss and exhaustively through a 2mm nylon screen to take any possible works dust harsh fragment and dead foliages. The dirt pH and entire organic affair were analysed at Kingston University Laboratory, London.

2.3 Soil pH.

Bullock and Gregory ( 1991 ) suggested that to find dirt pH the best practical method could be the usage of H2O pH method. Duplicate oven dried dirt samples, weighing 10g each were added with 25 milliliters of de-ionize H2O, and utilizing a pH metre which was calibrated at pH 4, 7 and 9.2.

2.4 Soil organic affair [ SOM ]

For the finding of dirt organic affair, Walkley-Black method was used ( walkley, 1947 ) 10 ml solution of K bichromate was added to three replicate of grinded dirt samples weighing 0.4 g and 20 milliliter of sulfuric acid added to it and left for 30 proceedingss. Thereafter, 200 milliliter of de-ionize H2O and 10 milliliter of concentrated orthor-phosphoric acid was added to the dirt sample solution. Several beads of index solution [ Ba diphenylamine sulphonate ] , titration of dirt solution with 0.5M-ammonium ferric sulfate solution. Soil sample was carefully observed at the terminal point as it changes its coloring material from bluish to green.

2.5 Cation Exchange Capacity [ CEC ]

Determination of CEC, was done by a suspension of 4g of dirt sample in 33ml of IM Na ethanoate solution thrice. Ethanol was used for taking of extra impregnation in the dirt solution. Sodium ion [ Na+ ] exchange index was displaced with NH4+ ion so finding was made utilizing flame emanation spectroscopy for cation exchange capacity of dirt sample.

2.6 Entire metal content

For entire metal concentration, the usage of azotic acid [ HNO3 ] for decomposition process was applied. 1.5g of dirt sample was introduced into three different acerb clean 100ml conelike flask, and 20ml of concentrated azotic acid was added from a dispenser. After heating at 50oC for 30 min. dirt samples were allowed to chill before reassigning into 100ml volumetric flask utilizing Whatman filter paper No. 541. At this point sample was ready for finding of hint component by inductively coupled plasma atomic emanation spectroscopy [ ICP-AES ] .

2.7 Potential bioavailability hint component

For this facet, IM NH4NO3 was used to measure the metal mobility in dirt sample. 1M NH4NO3 of which 50ml was added to dirty sample weighing 5g, it was agitate for 60 min. at 200 revolutions per minute. After agitating, samples were filtered utilizing whatman 41 filter paper. The infusion was used for finding of potentially bioavailability hint component by ICP-AES

2.8.0 Quality Control

2.8.1 Quality Assurance Measures

The research lab activities of this study was closely examine to be able to detect any taint or malfunction so that if any occur it could be identified and corrected. Measures were taken to do certain that all laboratory equipment were exhaustively clean before and after each usage.

2.8.2 Reproduction

In this study, three dirt samples were used throughout the same trial.

2.8.3 Certified Reference Material [ CRM ]

This stuff enables traceability to the International System of unit. CRM contains known dirt belongingss and mineral measures by weight ( Mackay & A ; Kazlauskas, 2011 ) . This was provided in the University research lab and was really utile for digestion of acid in entire heavy metal extraction experiment from samples without being cognizant of how efficient the is during the digestion.

2.8.4 Reagent Space

Reagent spaces were besides included in the finding processes, and treated the same manner the dirt samples were treated. The consequence of the reagent spaces were subtracted from the samples to take any signifier of divergence which might hold been present in the chemicals used in the research lab work.

3.0 Consequences and Discussions

3.1 Soil pH

Soil pH of country A, B and C are reasonably acidic as shown in the above tabular array 3.1. The values are 5.12 and 5.21. The sites have merely little differences in which country A is has the highest pH value and C has the lowest country. Crops can really turn on the investigated site ; this is support by Alloway ( 1990 ) the pH degree for cultivable harvests is 6.5 on mineral dirts and 5.5 on peaty dirts. Miller and Gardiner ( 1998 ) besides agreed that most agricultural workss can turn at its best in somewhat acidic dirt.

Strongly acidic dirt status will increase the solubility and mobility of heavy metals that are present in the dirt, this will expose workss to put on the line as metals will be absorbed through works roots, workss finally become contaminated with high degree of heavy metals, this is true for elements like Zn, Co and Cu ( Mattina et al. , 2003 ) .

Nitrification seem to be absent in acid dirts, microorganisms can non accommodate to acidic environment and finally its metabolic rate is reduced and C disrupted ( Alloway & A ; Ayres, 1993 ) . Soil sourness can be regulated by application of calcium hydroxide to dirty to increase the pH degree to 6.5 ( Blevins et al. , 1978 ) .

3.2 Cation Exchange Capacity

Ion exchange is said to be an exchange between counter-ions that balances surface charge on dirt colloids whether the dirt is organic dirt, clay dirt or mineral dirt and the ion in the dirt solution, nevertheless, cation exchange capacity is the extent to which dirt components can move as cation money changer ( Alloway & A ; Ayres, 1993 ) .

The locality of Managopaya, Banate is located at the western part of Visayas and lies at 4th district of the Province of Iloilo. It is bounded in between by the Municipality of Anilao when going to Iloilo City and Municipality of Barotac Viejo when going to Estancia. It has a land area of 667. 5 hectares or roughly 5. 15 percent of the total land area of the Municipality of Banate. As such it is the smallest barangay in the municipal composing of five (6) sitios namely: Proper, Baclayan, Bubog, Lumboy, Pangalatkaton and Tubod.

Sitio Proper serves as the center of various economic activities and site of all government owned offices or building. Extensive mountain ranges with uneven distribution of plateaus, swamps, and lowlands characterize the barangay’s topography. In terms of soil types, these ranges from loam, clay, sandy, clay loam, sandy loam, or a mixture of any of these, which are evenly distributed in the six (6) sitios of the barangay. These soil types are suitable to any kind of crop whether annual, perennial, or cash crops. TOPOGRAPIC MAP OF MANAGOPAYA

SOURCE: NATIONAL IRRIGATION ADMINISTRATION (NIA) Based on the 2011 Census of Population, the Barangay of Managopaya recorded a population level of 1328. This translates to an annual average growth rate of 0. 9 percent for the period 2000-2011. Sitio Proper, being the urban area, registered the most number of people at 363, which is 27. 33 percent of the municipality’s total population. This was followed by Sitio Baclayan having a population of 298 or 22. 2 percent of the total populationl. The percentage share of the remaining four (4) barangays ranged from 11-15 percent.

Consequently, in the most densely populated barangay, there were approximately four (4) people in every hectare of land while in the least densely populated area there would be roughly one (1) person in every hectare of land. Basically, the municipal population is young with more than half of its populace within the age range of 1-20 years. Out of the total municipal population, 52 percent or 690 were males while 48 percent or 633 were females. The barangay’s current working population (age 15-64) is pegged at 396. This is relatively low considering the high number of economic dependents totaling 932.

The population has a total dependency ratio of 70. Most people in Managopaya are largely Ilonggo. There are approximately 1195 people or about 99 percent who speak the dialect fluently. In terms of religious affiliation, 82 percent of the populations are Roman Catholics. 1. 1. 2 Economic Development Managopaya has an agricultural area of 467 hectares, which is equivalent to 70 percent or more than half of the barangay’s total land area. Farming is the main source of income owing to the barangay’s basic agricultural features.

There is only few banking institution in the area that offers to the demands of the business sector, as well as the needs of the farmers and government employees. It provides agricultural loans to farmers but only a few can avail due to stringent lending requirements and high interest rates. Fruits and other farm products of excellent quality are usually sold to Iloilo City or Passi City because of the high price these commodities command. Residents of Managopaya merely contain themselves with products of inferior quality for their daily consumption requirements.

Local traders supplement and assume the role of lending institutions by providing cash advance to small farmers and sugarcane folks during emergencies. The “suki” system is the most prevalent method of conducting business where local trader’s acts as financiers and at the same time control the price of fish, livestock and other farm products. The absence of larger scale establishments further complicate the worsening situation because residents still have to go to Iloilo City to purchase product which are not available in Banate or in Passi City.

This means additional burden to the poor especially now that the transportation cost is high. 1. 1. 3Social Development There is only one (1) public elementary school. Health services are provided by the Barangay Health Center located in the Proper. It is visited every 2-3 months by a doctor, a nurse, a dentist, a dental aid, and midwife. The barangay’s leading causes of mortality from 2000 to 2011 are cardio-vascular diseases, hypertension, pulmonary tuberculosis, and bronchopneumonia. On the other hand, the leading causes of morbidity are acute respiratory infection, diarrhea, and pulmonary tuberculosis.

The barangay’s crude birth rate is 17. 5 per 1,000 populations and its crude death rate is 3. 3 per 1,000 populations. Its infant mortality rate is 7. 22 per 1,000 populations while maternal mortality rate is 1. 8 per 1,000 populations. Based on the 2012 survey on population, there are 285 total of households and 298 total of families. The construction materials used for outer walls of these dwelling units are mostly indigenous products like bamboo, sawali, cogon, and nipa.

However, there are also some units that make use of sturdy materials like concrete, brick stones, galvanized iron, aluminum, and hard wood. . 2 THE PROPOSED UPLAND IRRIGATION THAT COMES FROM WATERFALLS OF MANAGOPAYA, BANATE, ILOILO Managopaya is largely an upland barangay and majority of its people source their income from their upland agriculture activities. Cognizant of this and the fact that the uplands’ soil fertility is deteriorating due to denudation and prolonged dry spell, the LGU’s priority development agenda is to reverse the situation in the near future. The LGU, at the moment, is fortunate to be part of the foreign-assisted Upland Development Program (UDP).

However, due to limited financial resources, upland development activities are also limited. The LGU, thus, would like to harness its potential sources of water to provide farmers the necessary water requirements for their high value crops and be lured to expand their production. This would, at the same time, address the problem of low income of farmers which is a result of low production of crops. Thus, this feasibility study is being prepared for the development of two (2) major potential sources of water for irrigation purposes.

Among the barangay’s development strategies is to recover the financial investments for it to be able to replicate the same project or to finance other development projects of the municipality. The LGU also recognizes the fact that, in order for this project to succeed, there is a need to put in place support facilities/activities like a nursery for planting materials, a “bagsakan” center for marketing support, and training to farmers on high-value crops production. In the case of planting materials for high-value crops, the LGU plans to provide these to farmers on a “plant-now-pay later scheme.

Farming is Pakistan’s largest economic activity. In FY 1993, agriculture, and small-scale forestry and fishing, contributed 25 percent of GDP and employed 48 percent of the labor force. Agricultural products, especially cotton yarn, cotton cloth, raw cotton, and rice, are important exports. Although there is agricultural activity in all areas of Pakistan, most crops are grown in the Indus River plain in Punjab and Sindh.

Considerable development and expansion of output has occurred since the early 1960s; however, the country is still far from realizing the large potential yield that the well-irrigated and fertile soil from the Indus irrigation system could produce. The floods of September 1992 showed how vulnerable agriculture is to weather; agricultural production dropped dramatically in FY 1993. Land Use Pakistan’s total land area is about 803,940 square kilometers. About 48 million hectares, or 60 percent, is often classified as unusable for forestry or agriculture consists mostly of deserts, mountain slopes, and urban settlements.

Some authorities, however, include part of this area as agricultural land on the basis that it would support some livestock activity even though it is poor rangeland. Thus, estimates of grazing land vary widely–between 10 percent and 70 percent of the total area. A broad interpretation, for example, categorizes almost all of arid Baluchistan as rangeland for foraging livestock. Government officials listed only 3 million hectares, largely in the north, as forested in FY 1992. About 21. 9 million hectares were cultivated in FY 1992.

Around 70 percent of the cropped area was in Punjab, followed by perhaps 20 percent in Sindh, less than 10 percent in the North-West Frontier Province, and only 1 percent in Baluchistan. Since independence, the amount of cultivated land has increased by more than one-third. This expansion is largely the result of improvements in the irrigation system that makes water available to additional plots. Substantial amounts of farmland have been lost to urbanization and waterlogging, but losses are more than compensated for by additions of new land.

In the early 1990s, more irrigation projects were needed to increase the area of cultivated land. The scant rainfall over most of the country makes about 80 percent of cropping dependent on irrigation. Fewer than 4 million hectares of land, largely in northern Punjab and the North-West Frontier Province, are totally dependent on rainfall. An additional 2 million hectares of land are under no irrigated cropping, such as plantings on floodplains as the water recedes.

No irrigated farming generally gives low yields, and although the technology exists to boost production substantially, it is expensive to use and not always readily available. Irrigation In the early 1990s, irrigation from the Indus River and its tributaries constituted the world’s largest contiguous irrigation system, capable of watering over 16 million hectares. The system includes three major storage reservoirs and numerous barrages, headwork’s, canals, and distribution channels. The total length of the canal system exceeds 58,000kilometers; there are an additional 1.

6 million kilometers of farm and field ditches. Partition placed portions of the Indus River and its tributaries under India’s control, leading to prolonged disputes over the use of Indus waters. After nine years of negotiations and technical studies, the issue was resolved by the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960. After a ten-year transitional period, the treaty awarded India use of the waters of the main eastern tributaries in its territory–the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers. Pakistan received use of the waters of the Indus River and its western tributaries, the Jhelum and Chenab rivers.

After the treaty was signed, Pakistan began an extensive and rapid irrigation construction program, partly financed by the Indus Basin Development Fund of US$800 million contributed by various nations, including the United States, and administered by the World Bank. Several immense link canals were built to transfer water from western rivers to eastern Punjab to replace flows in eastern tributaries that India began to divert in accordance with the terms of the treaty. The Mangla Dam, on the Jhelum River, was completed in 1967.

The dam provided the first significant water storage for the Indus irrigation system. The dam also contributes to flood control, to regulation of flows for some of the link canals, and to the country’s energy supply. At the same time, additional construction was undertaken on barrages and canals. A second phase of irrigation expansion began in 1968, when a US$1. 2 billion fund, also administered by the World Bank, was established. The key to this phase was the Tarbela Dam on the Indus River, which is the world’s largest earth-filled dam.

The dam, completed in the 1970s, reduced the destruction of periodic floods and in 1994 was a major hydroelectric generating source. Most important for agriculture, the dam increases water availability, particularly during low water, which usually comes at critical growing periods. Despite massive expansion in the irrigation system, many problems remain. The Indus irrigation system was designed to fit the availability of water in the rivers, to supply the largest area with minimum water needs, and to achieve these objectives at low operating costs with limited technical staff.

This system design has resulted in low yields and low cropping intensity in the Indus River plain, averaging about one crop a year, whereas the climate and soils could reasonably permit an average of almost 1. 5 crops a year if a more sophisticated irrigation network were in place. The urgent need in the 1960s and 1970s to increase crop production for domestic and export markets led to water flows well above designed capacities. Completion of the Mangla and Tarbela reservoirs, as well as improvements in other parts of the system, made larger water flows possible.

In addition, the government began installing public tube wells that usually discharge into upper levels of the system to add to the available water. The higher water flows in parts of the system considerably exceed design capacities, creating stresses and risks of breaches. Nonetheless, many farmers, particularly those with smallholdings and those toward the end of watercourses, suffer because the supply of water is unreliable. The irrigation system represents a significant engineering achievement and provides water to the fields that account for 90 percent of agricultural production.

Nonetheless, serious problems in the design of the irrigation system prevent achieving the highest potential agricultural output. Water management is based largely on objectives and operational procedures dating back many decades and is often inflexible and unresponsive to current needs for greater water use efficiency and high crop yields. Charges for water use do not meet operational and maintenance costs, even though rates more than doubled in the 1970s and were again increased in the 1980s. Partly because of its low cost, water is often wasted by farmers.

Good water management is not practiced by government officials, who often assume that investments in physical aspects of the system will automatically yield higher crop production. Government management of the system does not extend beyond the main distribution channels. After passing through these channels, water is directed onto the fields of individual farmers whose water rights are based on long-established social and legal codes. Groups of farmers voluntarily manage the watercourses between main distribution channels and their fields.

In effect, the efficiency and effectiveness of water management relies on the way farmers use the system. The exact amounts of water wasted have not been determined, but studies suggest that losses are considerable and perhaps amount to one-half of the water entering the system. Part of the waste results from se pages in the delivery system. Even greater amounts are probably lost because farmers use water whenever their turn comes even if the water application is detrimental to their crops. The attitude among almost all farmers is that they should use water when available because it may not be available at the next scheduled turn.

Moreover, farmers have little understanding of the most productive applications of water during crop-growing cycles because of the lack of research and extension services. As a result, improvements in the irrigation system have not raised yields and output as expected. Some experts believe that drastic changes are needed in government policies and the legal and institutional framework of water management if water use is to improve and that effective changes can result in very large gains in agricultural output. Drainage

The continuous expansion of the irrigation system over the past century significantly altered the hydrological balance of the Indus River basin. Seepage from the system and percolation from irrigated fields caused the water table to rise, reaching crisis conditions for a substantial area. Around 1900 the water table was usually more than sixteen meters below the surface of the Indus Plain. A 1981 survey found the water table to be within about three meters of the surface in more than one-half the cropped area in Sindh and more than one-third the area in Punjab.

In some locations, the water table is much closer to the surface. Cropping is seriously affected over a wide area by poor drainage–waterlogging–and by accumulated salts in the soil. Although some drainage was installed before World War II, little attention was paid to the growing waterlogging and salinity problems. In 1959 a salinity control and reclamation project was started in a limited area, based on public tube wells, to draw down the water table and leach out accumulated salts near the surface, using groundwater for irrigation.

By the early 1980s, some thirty such projects had been started that when completed would irrigate nearly 6. 3 million hectares. By 1993 the government had installed around 15,000 tube wells. Private farmers, however, had installed over 200,000 mostly small tube wells, mainly for irrigation purposes but also to lower the water table. Private Wells probably pumped more than five times as much water as public wells. Officials were aware of the need for additional spending to prevent further deterioration of the existing situation.

Emphasis in the 1980s and early 1990s was on rehabilitation and maintenance of existing canals and watercourses, on farm improvements on the farms themselves (including some land leveling to conserve water), and on drainage and salinity in priority areas. Emphasis was also placed on short-term projects, largely to improve the operation of the irrigation system in order to raise yields. Part of the funding would come from steady increases in water use fees; the intention is gradually to raise water charges to cover operation and maintenance costs.

Considerable time and money are needed to realize the full potential of the irrigation system and bring it up to modern standards. Farm Ownership and Land Reform At independence Pakistan was a country with a great many small-scale farms and a small number of very large estates. Distribution of landownership was badly skewed. Less than 1 percent of the farms consisted of more than 25 percent of the total agricultural land. Many owners of large holdings were absentee landlords, contributing little to production but extracting as much as possible from the sharecroppers who farmed the land.

At the other extreme, about 65 percent of the farmers held some 15 percent of the farmland in holdings of about two hectares or less. Approximately 50 percent of the farmland was cultivated by tenants, including sharecroppers, most of whom had little security and few rights. An additional large number of landless rural inhabitants worked as agricultural laborers. Farm laborers and many tenants were extremely poor, uneducated, and undernourished, in sharp contrast to the wealth, status, and political power of the landlord

elite. After independence the country’s political leaders recognized the need for more equitable ownership of farmland and security of tenancy. In the early 1950s, provincial governments attempted to eliminate some of the absentee landlords or rent collectors, but they had little success in the face of strong opposition. Security of tenancy was also legislated in the provinces, but because of their dependent position, tenant farmers benefited only slightly.

In fact, the reforms created an atmosphere of uncertainty in the countryside and intensified the animosity between wealthy landlords and small farmers and sharecroppers. In January 1959, accepting the recommendations of a special commission on the subject, General Mohammad Ayub Khan’s government issued new land reform regulations that aimed to boost agricultural output, promote social justice, and ensure security of tenure. A ceiling of about 200 hectares of irrigated land and 400 hectares of nonirrigated land was placed on individual ownership; compensation was paid to owners for land surrendered.

Numerous exemptions, including title transfers to family members, limited the impact of the ceilings. Slightly fewer than 1 million hectares of land were surrendered, of which a little more than 250,000 hectares were sold to about 50,000 tenants. The land reform regulations made no serious attempt to break up large estates or to lessen the power or privileges of the landed elite. However, the measures attempted to provide some security of tenure to tenants, consolidate existing holdings, and prevent fragmentation of farm plots.

An average holding of about five hectares was considered necessary for a family’s subsistence, and a holding of about twenty to twenty-five hectares was pronounced as a desirable “economic” holding. In March 1972, the Bhutto government announced further land reform measures, which went into effect in 1973. The landownership ceiling was officially lowered to about five hectares of irrigated land and about twelve hectares of nonirrigated land; exceptions were in theory limited to an additional 20 percent of land for owners having tractors and tube wells.

The ceiling could also be extended for poor-quality land. Owners of expropriated excess land received no compensation, and beneficiaries were not charged for land distributed. Official statistics showed that by 1977 only about 520,000 hectares had been surrendered, and nearly 285,000 hectares had been redistributed to about 71,000 farmers. The 1973 measure required landlords to pay all taxes, water charges, seed costs, and one-half of the cost of fertilizer and other inputs.

It prohibited eviction of tenants as long as they cultivated the land, and it gave tenants first rights of purchase. Other regulations increased tenants’ security of tenure and prescribed lower rent rates than had existed. In 1977 the Bhutto government further reduced ceilings on private ownership of farmland to about four hectares of irrigated land and about eight hectares of no irrigated land. In an additional measure, agricultural income became taxable, although small farmers owning ten hectares or fewer–the majority of the farm populations–were exempted.

The military regime of Zia ul-Haq that ousted Bhutto neglected to implement these later reforms. Governments in the 1980s and early 1990s avoided significant land reform measures, perhaps because they drew much of their support from landowners in the countryside. Government policies designed to reduce the concentration of landownership had some effect, but their significance was difficult to measure because of limited data. In 1993 the most recent agricultural census was that of 1980, which was used to compare statistics with the agricultural census of 1960.

Between 1960 and 1980, the number of farms declined by 17 percent and farms decreased in area by 4 percent, resulting in slightly larger farms. This decline in the number of farms was confined to marginal farms of two hectares or fewer, which in 1980 represented 34 percent of all farms, constituting 7 percent of the farm hectarage. At the other extreme, the number of very large farms of sixty hectares or more was 14,000–both in 1960 and in 1980–although the average size of the biggest farms was smaller in 1980. The number of farms between two and ten hectares increased during this time.

Greater use of higher-yielding seeds requiring heavier applications of fertilizers, installations of private tube wells, and mechanization accounted for much of the shift away from very small farms toward mid-sized farms, as owners of the latter undertook cultivation instead of renting out part of their land. Observers believed that this trend had continued in the 1980s and early 1990s. In early 1994, land reform remained a controversial and complex issue. Large landowners retain their power over small farmers and tenants, especially in the interior of Sindh, which has a feudal agricultural establishment.

Tenancy continues on a large-scale: one-third of Pakistan’s farmers are tenant farmers, including almost one-half of the farmers in Sindh. Tenant farmers typically give almost 50 percent of what they produce to landlords. Fragmented holdings remain a substantial and widespread problem. Studies indicate that larger farms are usually less productive per hectare or unit of water than smaller ones. Cropping Patterns and Production In the early 1990s, most crops were grown for food. Wheat is by far the most important crop in Pakistan and is the staple food for the majority of the population.

Wheat is eaten most frequently in unleavened bread called chapatti. In FY 1992, wheat was planted on 7. 8 million hectares, and production amounted to 14. 7 million tons. Output in FY 1993 reached 16. 4 million tons. Between FY 1961 and FY 1990, the area under wheat cultivation increased nearly 70 percent, while yields increased 221 percent. Wheat production is vulnerable to extreme weather, especially in nonirrigated areas. In the early and mid-1980s, Pakistan was self-sufficient in wheat, but in the early 1990s more than 2 million tons of wheat were imported annually.

Rice is the other major food grain. In FY 1992, about 2. 1 million hectares were planted with rice, and production amounted to 3. 2 million tons, with 1 million tons exported. Rice yields also have increased sharply since the 1960s following the introduction of new varieties. Nonetheless, the yield per hectare of around 1. 5 tons in FY 1991 was low compared with many other Asian countries. Pakistan has emphasized the production of rice in order to increase exports to the Middle East and therefore concentrates on the high-quality basmati variety, although other grades also are exported.

The government increased procurement prices of basmati rice disproportionately to encourage exports and has allowed private traders into the rice export business alongside the public-sector Rice Export Corporation. Other important food grains are millet, sorghum, corn, and barley. Corn, although a minor crop, gradually increased in area and production after independence, partly at the expense of other minor food grains. Chickpeas, called gram in Pakistan, are the main nongrain food crop in area and production. A number of other foods, including fruits and vegetables, are also grown.

In the early 1990s, cotton was the most important commercial crop. The area planted in cotton increased from 1. 1 million hectares in FY 1950 to 2. 1 million hectares in FY 1981 and 2. 8 million hectares in FY 1993. Yields increased substantially in the 1980s, partly as a result of the use of pesticides and the introduction in 1985 of a new high-yielding variety of seed. During the 1980s, cotton yields moved from well below the world average to above the world average. Production in FY 1992 was 12. 8 million bales, up from 4. 4 million bales ten years earlier.

Output fell sharply, however, to 9. 3 million bales in FY 1993 because of the September 1992 floods and insect infestations. Other cash crops include tobacco, rapeseed, and, most important, sugarcane. In FY 1992 sugarcane was planted on 880,000 hectares, and production was 35. 7 million tons. Except for some oil from cottonseeds, the country is dependent on imported vegetable oil. By the 1980s, introduction and experimentation with oilseed cultivation was under way. Soybeans and sunflower seeds appear to be suitable crops given the country’s soil and climate, but production was still negligible in the early 1990s.

Agriculture is central to economic growth and development in Pakistan. Being the dominant sector it contributes 21. 4 percent to GDP, employs 45 percent of the country’s labour force and contributes in the growth of other sectors of the economy. During 2012-13, agriculture sector exhibited a growth of 3. 3 percent on the back of positive growth in agriculture related sub sectors, Crops grew at 3. 2 percent, Livestock 3. 7 percent, Forestry 0. 1 percent and Fishing 0. 7 percent. The agriculture subsector component which includes important crops other percent respectively.

As the performance of agriculture sector dependent upon weather condition, timely availability of input (water). During 2012-13 weather condition and water situation has an impact on these Kharif crops that paved the way for decrease in output of rice and cotton crops. Agriculture growth percentages (Base=2005-06): Other crops that contributed 12. 3 percent value addition in agriculture witnessed a positive growth of 6. 7 percent in 2012-13 against negative growth of 7. 7 percent during the same period last year. The cotton ginning under new base 2005-06 has been included in agriculture value addition showed a negative growth of 2.

9 percent in 2012-13 against the positive growth of 13. 8 percent during the same period last year. The Livestock sector which has a 55. 4 percent share in the agriculture grew by 3. 7 percent in 2012-13. The Fishing sector grew by 0. 7 percent as against last year’s positive growth of 3. 8 percent. Forestry sector posted a nominal growth of 0. 1 percent this year as compared to positive growth of 1. 7 percent last year. Pakistan has two crop seasons, “Kharif” being the first sowing season starting from April-June and harvested during October December. Rice, sugarcane, cotton, maize, moong, mash, bajra and jowar are “Kharif” crops.

“Rabi”, the second sowing season, begins as on October-December and is harvested in April-May. Wheat, gram, lentil (masoor), tobacco, rapeseed, barley and mustard are “Rabi” crops. The crops performance is dependent upon timely availability of irrigation water. During 2012-13, the availability of water as an essential input for Kharif 2012 was 14 percent less than the normal supplies but to compare with Kharif 2011, it was 4. 4 percent less. The water availability during Rabi season 2012-13 was estimated 31. 9 MAF, which was 12. 4 percent less than the normal availability, but 8. 5 percent higher than last year’s Rabi crop Crop situation:

Important croops, such as wheat, rice, maize, cotton and sugarcane account for 25. 2 percent of the value added in overall agriculture and 5. 4 percent to GDP. The other crops account for the 12. 3 percent of the value added in overall agriculture. Live stock contributes 55. 4% to agriculture value added much more then the combine contribution of important and other crops. ( 37. 6%). The production performance of important crops is given in table. a. Important crops: i) Cotton: Pakistan economy depends heavily on cotton crop significantly contribute by providing raw material to the textile industry, such as cotton lint as an export item.

It account for 7. 0% of value added in agriculture and 1. 5% of GDP. During 2012-13 the crops was on area of 2879 thousand heacters, 1. 6% more then last year(2835 thousand heacters). The production of 13. 0 million bales during the period2012-13 against the target of 14. 5 million bales resulted in decline of 13. 0% against the target and decrease of 4. 2 percent over the preceding year production which was 13. 6 million bales. Mild attack of Thrips, white fly and cotton leaf curl virus (CLCV) adversely effected the production of cotton boll which effected the production and yield per heacter as compare to last year.

ii)Sugarcane: Sugarcane crops occupies an important position in national economy in order to drive the large sugar industry. It also provide the material to clipboard, paper and ethanol. It share in value added in agriculture and GDP is 3. 2 and 0. 7% respectively. Sugarcane crops was cultivated on an area of 1124 thousand hecters,6. 2% more then last year’s area of area of 1058 thousand hecters. The main factor contributed to higher production where more area brought under cultivation due to economic return received by the grower, good management of crops and application of balance doze of inputs. iii)Rice:

Rice is an important cash crop of coutry. Rice production comprises 40 percent of Basmati (Fine) type and 60% of coarse types. Rice ranks as second amongst the staple food grain crop in Pakistan and it has been a major source of foreign exchange earnings in recent years. Pakistan grows a high quality of rice to fulfil the domestic demand and also for exports. Rice accounts 2. 7 percent of the value added in agriculture and 0. 6 percent of GDP. iv) Wheat: Wheat is an essential diet of population and occupies a central position in agriculture polices of the government. The government announced wheat support price of R.

s 1200 which created interest on the part of farming community. Wheat contributes 10. 1% to the value added in agriculture and 2. 2% to GDP. Area under wheat increased to 8693 thousand hecter in 2012-13 from 8650 thousand hecters showing an increase of 0. 5% over lats year’s area. Other crops: During 2012-2013,the production of Gram, the largest Rabi pulses crop in Pakistan, stood at 673 thousand tones, against 284 thousand tones of last year, showing an increase of about 137. 0 percent due to increase in area and favorable weather condition, while production of bajra increased 2. 0 percent.

This is in contrast to other crops like jawar, Rapeseed & Mustard, Barley and tobacco showed an decline in production of 10. 9 percent, 6. 7 percent, 6. 0 percent and 1. 0 percent, respectively, in 2012-13 as compared to the corresponding period last year. Oilseed: The major oilseed crops include cottonseed, sunflower, canola and rapeseed / mustard. Although the cotton crop is grown for its lint, cottonseed contributes 50 to 60 percent to local edible oil production. During the year 2011-12, the total availability of edible oil was 2. 748 million tonnes. Local production of edible oil is remained 0.

636 million tonnes while imports were 2. 148 million tonnes. The import bill during 2011-12 stood at Rs. 216. 4 billion (US$ 2. 426 billion). During the year 2012-13 (July-March), 1. 738 million tonnes of edible oil valued at Rs. 153. 3 billion (US$ 1. 595 billion) has been imported. The local production during 2012-13 (July-March) was 0. 612 million tonnes. Total availability of edible oil from all sources is provisionally estimated at 2. 35 million tonnes during 2012-13 (July-March). II. Farm Inputs: i) Fertilizer: Fertilizer is the most important and expensive input.

Contribution of balanced fertilization towards increased yield is from 30 to 50 percent in different crop production regions of the country. One kg of fertilizer nutrient produces about 8 kg of cereals (wheat, maize and rice), 2. 5 kg of cotton and 114 kg of stripped sugarcane. Almost hundred percent soils in Pakistan are deficient in nitrogen, 80 to 90 percent are deficient in phosphorus and 30 percent in potassium. Wide spread deficiency of micronutrients are also appearing in different areas. Soil fertility is continuously depleting due to mining of essential plant nutrients from the soils under intensive cultivation. ii) Improved seed:

Quality seed plays a pivotal role in boosting agricultural production both in market oriented and subsistence farming system. Seed has the unique position among various agricultural inputs because the effectiveness of all other inputs mainly depends on the potential of the seeds. Seed is a high technology product and is an innovation most readily adapted. Improving access to good quality of seed is a critical requirement for sustainable agricultural growth and food security. Effective use of improved/certified seed can result in higher agricultural production and increases the net income which has a positive impact on rural development.

Hence, availability of quality seed of improved varieties is essential to achieve the production targets. iii) Mechanization: Mechanization of agriculture plays an important role in increasing agricultural production. Mechanization of agriculture is crucial to achieve self sufficiency and surpluses through increasing productivity and reducing pre and post harvest losses. The government is making all efforts to modernize its agriculture and its allied fields more efficiently and productively. The use of efficient and quality farm machinery and equipment play an important role in the sowing and harvesting of agriculture crops.

During July-March 2012-13 a total number of 36121 tractors were produced in the country, showing an increase of 34. 6 percent as compared to 26840tractors produced during the same period last year. iv) Irrigation: Water is an important input to achieve the agriculture growth and is considered to be the lifeline of agriculture activities. Pakistan has a good irrigation canal network but temperatures and rainfalls during sowing and harvesting season has its own unique importance. III. Livestock and Poultry: a) Livestock:

The livestock sector occupies a unique position in the National Agenda of economic development . The sector provides net source of foreign earnings. Historically livestock has been dominated by small holders to meet their needs of milk, food security and cash income on daily basis. Moreover, livestock is considered a source of employment generation at rural level, helping to reduce income variability. It is central to the livelihood of the rural poor in the country and can play an important role in poverty alleviation and keep in uplifting the socio-economic condition of our rural masses.

b) Poultry: Poultry sector is one of the most organized and vibrant segments of the agriculture industry of Pakistan. This sector generates employment (direct/indirect) and income for about 1. 5 million people. Its contribution in agriculture is 5. 76 percent, livestock 10. 4 percent and in GDP at constant cost factor 1. 2 percent. Poultry meat contributes 26. 8 percent of the total meat production in the country. Poultry sector has shown a robust growth @ 7-8 percent annually which reflects its inherent potential. The poultry value added at constant cost factor has increased from Rs.

113465 million (2011-12) to Rs. 121726 million (2012-13) showing an increase of 7. 3 percent as compared to previous year. Fisheries: Fishery plays an important role in Pakistan’s economy and is considered to be a source of livelihood for the coastal inhabitants. A part from marine fisheries, inland fisheries (based in rivers, lakes, ponds, dams etc. ) is also very important activity throughout the country. Fisheries share in the GDP although very little but it adds substantially to the national income through export earnings. During (July-March), 2012-13 a total of 103,822 m.

tonnes of fish and fishery products were exported earning US $ 232. 4 million against a total of 90,087 m. tonnes of fish and fishery products were exported earning US $ 222. 6 million corresponding period last year showing an increase of 15. 3 percent and 4. 4 percent respectively. Future Plans: Consequent upon 18th Constitutional Amendment, the animal health and production subject have been future policy priorities therefore revolve around the following strategies. Encouraging Public Private Partnership led development with government providing enabling environment. National economic growth.

Encouraging livestock sector role and using as tool for poverty alleviation & food security. Enhance foreign exchange earnings through exports of livestock products with focus on halal food market. future policy priorities therefore revolve around the following strategies. Encouraging Public Private Partnership led development with government providing enabling environment. National economic growth. Encouraging livestock sector role and using as tool for poverty alleviation & food security. Enhance foreign exchange earnings through exports of livestock products with focus on halal food market.

How the Government help farmers in the Bahamas Today I am going to speak momentarily on how the Bahamian government help farmers in the Bahamas. They help by giving the farmers loan to buy supplies on a broad spread of product including building supplies ,processing materials and farm vehicles such as trucks, tractors plough and a harvest machine . Usually they hold lease and dispose of agricultural land, because some farmers don’t have a land to farm on and some farmers land are so small. The more the land the more the crops can increase.

For example they give about 13,869 acres of land in Andros about 11,737 acres of land in Abaco and about 10,542 land in Grand Bahama . Also the government give money to some farmers because sometime the farmers cannot afford the supplies to maintain a proper farm . For example wheel barrels , Cattles ,Fruit trees and vegetable seed. Another thing they do is allow the farmers to sue, because these days some people go on farmers land and pick their crops without permission to do so .

If they keep stealing the farmers crops there will not be non for the farmers . Also the Bahamian government help with training seminars and programmes on farming livestock information to help farmers and person that is interested in farming with initative as well as what proceses are required to increase yield of crops and how to raise health livestock . When new events arise they are posted in the events section of the (BAIC)website to sentsitise public. Filling out forms and submit the register form to the (BAIC) office.

The time spent at these session are one day to sometime four weeks the most. They also help us with marketing our products in the Bahamas and international corporation (BAIC) also assist by placing farmers produce on it website to make the produce available to Bahamian and foreigns. Lastly but not lease they support us with fertilizer the soil , because some land areas don’t have very good soil so are and crops will not be unable to grow properly . They are un able to grow because the soil is hard , barren and don’t have enough nutrients for the crops to grow.

1. Introduction The largest and biggest contributor to Bangladesh’s economy is the agricultural sector. Seen often as the ‘unsung’ hero of our growth revolution, it still serves as the most significant industry in this country. In spite of its large contribution to employment, relatively speaking, its contribution to GNP falls short of expectations. Hence, as with other developing countries, the agriculture sector in Bangladesh can be classified as predominantly being ‘traditional’.

This implies that it is mainly comprised of small households that suffer from technological stagnation, unskilled labor, and supply chain and market linkage problems. In spite of this, a modern agriculture sector does exists which enjoys substantial economies of scale. It is a well established fact that with increase in scale of output, efficiency increases up to an optimum point and this paper will put this to the test by investigating whether this holds true in the agriculture sector as well. 2. Problem statement

Ideally, government policy should be directed towards increasing the capacity of the traditional agriculture sector in order to transform it towards a more modern one. However, with a weak local government structure, lack of strategic planning and corruption, effective government support towards this sector cannot be expected. Even if policy makers could come up with viable policies to help rural farmers, it would be very costly as most of these rural farmer’s are too small and dispersed in remote areas. Therefore, any aggregate development would either fail in cost effectiveness or fail in implementations.

This leads to the point that increase in farm size needs to take place in the grassroots level This paper therefore will look into the possibility of rural farmer’s joining together to ‘pool in’ their limited technology, land, labor and skills to achieve some form of economies of scale that can increase their efficiency and lower the costs. Such a framework could be done in the style of a producer’s cooperative. An agriculture cooperative is “a type of cooperative that unites agricultural producers for production or other activities needed by the members (such as processing, marketing of output, or supply of the means of production). An increase in efficiency can be contributed to a variety of factors such as improvement in technology, more efficient use of land, increase in skilled labor etc. While individual quanitative analysis is beyond the scope of this paper, a single variable can be used to do a comparative analysis to see whether belonging to a cooperative, through which there would be an increase in farm size, actually lead to any increase in efficiency. In terms of the variable, net profit of individual farmer’s not belonging to cooperatives and that of cooperatives will be used.

Hence, a hypothesis can be developed at this point: The hypothesis will therefore test the probability that belonging to a ‘co-op’ leads to increase in profit holding output constant. 3. Literature Review There has been extensive work done farm size and efficiency, and agricultural cooperatives as an extension. Oduol and Hotta examined the effect of farm size on the productive efficiency of smallholder farms in a land–scarce Embu district of Kenya.

In particular, the study seeks to establish the relationship between farmsize and three components of productive efficiency, namely technical, scale and allocative efficiency, “ Farm Size and Productive Efficiency: Lessons from Smallholder Farms in Embu District, Kenya Judith Beatrice Auma ODUOL1*, Kazuhiko HOTTA2, Shoji SHINKAI2 and Masao TSUJI3” There has been extensive work done on cooperative movement in the agriculture sector by leading academics.

However, a point to be noted at the very outset is that there is clear evidence of a lack of study in this field in the South Asia region. This is not only surprising but also indicates a clear need for research and investigation of this topic with a special focus on country’s like Bangladesh as South Asia is a primary producer of agricultural products. Assistant Professor Richard J. Sexton, in his paper “Factors critical to the success or failure of emerging agricultural cooperatives” provides a powerful insight into the strength and limitations of the cooperative movement in general.

He argues that a solid foundation in supply chain and market linkage is critical if agricultural cooperatives are to survive. “Agricultural cooperatives and markets in developing countries” by ANSCHEL, K. R. ; BRANNON, R. H. ; SMITH, E. D. treats the matter more specifically in context of developing countries. In his study, it was found that belonging to cooperative movement gives farmers’ a form of ‘institutional’ support to carry out its production and marketing.

Furthermore, a paper titled “Revitalizing Market-Oriented Agricultural Cooperatives in Ethiopia” conducted in cooperation with USAID’s Cooperative Development Program by Tesfaye Assefa provides insightful analysis on a comparative study done on a developing, agriculture developing country similar to Bangladesh. This study sheds light on the fact that developing countries are particularly in need of farmer’s receiving certain technical support in order to reduce their costs. Economic analysis on this issue has been dealt with fairly in the text “The economic theory of agrarian institutions”, Bardhan, P.

K. (eds. ). – Oxford (United Kingdom): Oxford University Press, 1991. Finally, the future prospects and potential of the cooperative movement has been addressed in the paper “Future Roles for Agricultural Cooperatives” by Peter Helmberger where he argued that agricultural cooperatives will take on a larger role in the coming years with the rise in linkage with large food retailers. A paper titled “AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATIVES: ROLE IN FOOD SECURITY AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT” investigated the link between the need for food security and the development of agricultural co-operatives.

This is a highly important point as food security is seen as one of the major threats to the 21st century. The role of cooperatives into only being a profit making structure, but also a socially beneficial function in terms of addressing the question of food security should not be taken lightly. This is especially true in a country like Bangladesh where the current government is aggressively trying to address the problem of food security for one of the most densely populated countries.

In terms of classifying the agriculture sector in a more academic sphere of economics, it can be deduced that a developing country’s agriculture sector is divided into the traditional agriculture sector comprising of unskilled, self sufficient rural households and the modern agriculture sector consisting of a capital intensive, efficient, large scale producer. T. W. Schultz, in his paper highlighted the significance of transforming these traditional sectors into a more modern agriculture sectors and the possible consequences of these in the development process, Schultz T. W (1964),

Transforming Traditional Agriculture, Yale University Press, New Haven. One of the underlying reasons for a larger farming structure in the form of cooperatives is the technological innovation that comes along with it. Bachman, K. L and Christensen highlighted the need to remove technological stagnation from the traditional agriculture sector in order to achieve long term development, Bachman, K. L and Christensen, R. P (1967), ‘The Economics of Farm Size’, in Southworth, H. M and Johnston, B. F. (eds), Agricultural Development and Economic Growth, Cornell University Press, Ithaca.

Finally, Berry and Cline investigated the correlation in productivity and farming structure and found there to be a positive trend between increased output and productivity levels, Berry, D. A. and Cline, W. R. (1979), Agrarian Structure and Productivity in Developing Countries, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. This study provided a case in point about the possible role of cooperatives in making the traditional agriculture sector much more productive. 4. Study methodology Secondary data from the available records of Ferdous Biotech Pvt. Ltd, an agro-based company based in Gazipur has been used to compile these statistics.

The data has been derived from potato farmers that the company employs in the northern region of Bangladesh. Regional variations have been held constant while similar output levels have been selected between farmers belonging to ‘co-ops’ and not belonging to them so that a single variable (profit) can be tested. Further assumptions have been made in terms of seasonal variability being minimum and fertility showing unremarkable changes. The data was tabulated and statistic measures such as central tendencies, bar charts and hypothesis testing was undertaking to infer the data.

SPSS software was used for most of the data analysis. It should be noted out that some of the data was filtered out due to create an appropriate sample. 5. Descriptive statistical analysis As seen in the frequencydistribution table that in each corresponding category of data with holding output constant, the farmers belonging to co ops show a signficinant rise in profits as opposed to those not belonging to co ops. While there are certain variations, there are not signficant enough to be inferred as statistically inconsistent. A clear trend analysis of the data can be seen from the chart seen above titlted Profitibality Study.

For most data, belonging to to co-ops as signified by the blue bars shows a higher trend then the red bars indiciating profits by farmers not belonging to co ops. The measures of central tendency for these data show a significant variation. The middle values for each profit level stands at 75650 and 73100 respectively with the highest frequency for each category (with co op and without co op) standing at 60050 and 42400 as well. The average profit shown by farmers belonging to co ops stands at 81590 while those opting out of co opt standing at 79986.

These values clearly shows that belonging to a co op does lead to better off profits as seen by the higher central tendency values in each category. This can be extended to be proved through the lowest values and highest values also. The lowest value for farmers in co ops stand at 14000 while those for without co ops are at 12500. Corresponding higher values are at 160300 and 159200, with the range standing at 146300 and 73100 for co-ops and without co-ops respectively. In terms of the quartiles, Q1 stood at 42075 and 41450 for co-ops and without co-ops while Q3 stood at 121925 and 118050 respectively.

It is worth noting at this point that from central tendencies along, it can be inferred that consistently, farmers belonging to a larger farm size in terms of co-operatives show a higher profit levels than those not belonging to such co-operatives. However, there is significant dispersion in the data that can be seen through the standard deviation for each data set standing at 46106. 9 and 45687. 8 respectively. Dispersion between the data as used for the development of the confidence interval, the standard deviation here stands at 8636. 9.

In terms of the confidence level the range is at -2556. 076 to 5763. 74 As stated in the problem statement the hypothesis will there test the probability that belonging to ‘co-ops’ leading to increase in profit holding output constant. To analyze this, a hypothesis test was undertaken using SPSS and the results are presented below: Hypothesis T-Test One-Sample Statistics NMeanStd. DeviationStd. Error Mean Profits With Co-ops3081590. 166746106. 984718417. 94519 Profits Without Co-ops3079986. 333345687. 855448341. 42301 One-Sample Test Test Value = 0 tdfSig. 2-tailed)Mean Difference Profits With Co-ops9. 69229. 00081590. 16667 Profits Without Co-ops9. 58929. 00079986. 33333 One-Sample Test Test Value = 0 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference LowerUpper Profits With Co-ops64373. 535698806. 7977 Profits Without Co-ops62926. 207797046. 4589 It is clear from the above results that with the mean for co-ops consistently being higher than that of profits of farmers not belonging to co-ops that the hypothesis cannot be rejected. Therefore, belonging to co-ops does tend to show a higher profitability than in absence of it. . Summary The test results clearly demonstrate that belonging to co ops show a significant increase in profits. While there are certain variations in the data, these could be due to miscalculations due to large number of sample data or through farmer’s misinterpretation of market calculations as well. There are quite a few justifications for the results that have been shown. Clearly belonging to such co ops increases the technical capacity of the farmers to achieve lower costs and higher revenues leading to increase in profits.

Through marketing economies of scale, they are able to sell at a better rate while their technical economies such as specialization and indivisibility of capital allows them to achieve the lower costs as stated above. In conclusion the data clearly supports the hypothesis that belonging to co-ops is a much better option for farmers then not doing so. This leaves us with the question – in terms of farm size and efficiency, is there a role for the cooperative movement? While the tests results clearly show hat belonging to co-operatives leads to an increase in profit, this point comes with strong qualifications because a profit function in itself cannot be used to make absolute inferences regarding efficiency. This is especially true due to the fact that most of the agrarian households belong to the traditional sector and as discussed earlier, they suffer from certain problems such as technological stagnation, unskilled labor and lack of capital. These serve as a major impediment towards achieving efficiency.

While belonging to cooperatives may bring in certain economies of scale which may mitigate some of these problems, the underlying problem of transforming the traditional agricultural sector a modern one would need much more than just formation of co-operatives. It requires extensive long term technological and financial investment by the government and the non government sector. There is no doubting the role of agriculture in the economy of Bangladesh, but with regards to the extent to which it can contribute to an ever modernizing economy is up for debate.

Appendix I – Output (Kgs) Profit (Co-ops)Profit (Without Co-ops) 2001400012500 2501750016300 3001880017500 3502320021300 4002780026800 4503210031050 5003750038600 5504360042400 6004820042400 6505340052100 7005960060050 7506005062300 8006005064700 8506890066300 9007350070000 9507780076200 10008340084000 10508900087060 11009750096000 115010010598030 1200110500105500 1250115600110300 1300120300117200 1350126800120600 1400130100125200 1450141500139300 1500147300148200 1550152400151300 1600156900157200 1650160300159200

The dying art of Jaffna “The next generation is not keen on getting their hands dirty and they dislike hard work. They do not want to take up the field of farming. They prefer being in air conditioned offices or being doctors and lawyers. They have dreams of their own and being a grape farmer is hardly one of them” For thirty long years Sri Lanka was torn apart by a malevolent war between the country’s majority and minority; a war that not only claimed the lives of many, soldiers and civilians alike, but also destroyed much property and dammed the country’s growth in uncountable ways.

The whole of Sri Lanka grieved as one at all that was lost but it would not be incorrect to say that it was the north that suffered the most; it affected the education, economy, health, security, agriculture and overall the lives of the people of that part of the island. One trade that was deeply affected in the field of agriculture is grape farming, an industry that was and is carried out at a commercial basis only in the district of Jaffna. It was stated by Mr. Sivakumar, Provincial Director of Agriculture Northern Province, that before the war the district of Jaffna had over 250 acres of grape cultivation.

The war brought upon difficulties in marketing the crops which resulted in gradually increasing numbers of farmers leaving the trade as it was no longer profitable. However since the ending of the war and the opening of the A9 road, new marketing prospects have been found and the trade has yet again been taken up and currently is spread over 110 acres in Jaffna. While cultivators who lost their farms during the war have been given the opportunity to revive their lost businesses, new cultivators too are being encouraged to take up the trade by the government said Mr.

Sivakumar. The Ministry of Agriculture Northern Province is currently focusing on introducing new varieties of grape fruit to Jaffna farmers in order to harvest better crops. These new varieties Sonaka and Sharad have been imported from India and are said to produce grape fruit that is larger in size and sweeter than the local grapes. This idea of importing new varieties has been supported by the Central Department of Agriculture which is the agency that gives permission for importing any sort of planting material, and also by the Ministry of Agriculture.

The financial support has been given by Cargills food city as it is them who invested in the project. The total project investment has been Rs 222 million and 92. 2 million of this investment has been shared by the USAID. The imported seedlings have already been introduced, distributed and promoted among Jaffna farmers and is currently being cultivated and within another two years the peninsula will have a greater variety of quality grape fruit, noted Mr. U. L. M Haldeen, Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture Northern Province.

Grape crops are harvested twice a year; during the season of March- April and August- September. These are considered peak periods as it is the dry season during these months and for grape fruit the dry season is considered very important as this is the time that produces the best crops. However certain farmers prune in such a way that they can produce crops even off season. Grape cultivation, compared to other farming industries needs a fair amount of investment and effort to inaugurate and to maintain. To grow a quarter acre farm it costs approximately 150 thousand Rs just to install the pandal system.

For the maintaining of such a farm it costs about another 150 thousand Rs stated Mr. Sivakumar. Even though it is a costly trade it brings in enough money to be called a profitable trade. Farmers have reported that a quarter acre farm brings in nearly 200 thousand Rs per season. This good income is one of the main encouraging forces for other cultivators to begin grape farms of their own which in return will increase the overall crops produced by Jaffna which would prove to be healthy for the economy of the district.

On a positive note, locally grown grapes are cheaper than the imported ones as a kg of Jaffna grape fruit costs 200 to 300 Rs while the Australian imported grapes cost 600 to 700 Rs. However on the contrary the imported grapes are much larger in size and taste sweeter than the locally grown Israel Blue. Therefore, even now, customers who look for quality are willing to pay more to purchase the imported fruits, which pose a threat to the growth of the local grape fruit farming trade. This is the reason as to why he ministry is trying all possible options to grow grape crops that can compete with the imported ones. As there is already a fairly good market for Jaffna grapes in the southern part of the country it is their hope to widen this market by dominating the imported grape fruit market. As earlier mentioned maintaining a grape farm is both an expensive and difficult venture. Especially to the farmers of the north it is something much more than just a trade, it is a significant part of their lives. They have many beliefs and traditions entwined with the grapevines.

It is said by these farmers that growing grapes is in many ways much like raising a child; it requires constant nurturing, caring and attention. There is a manner in which every move should be made: choosing the soil, installing the pandal system, preparing the drainage, watering the farm, fertilizing, and last but not least pruning should all be done in a proper manner to ensure the well being of the grapevines says Mr. Inuvil, a successful grape farmer. The preciseness of this trade makes it appear that grape farming in actuality is more or less an art than just an agricultural trade.

Even though the number of farmers stepping into this field is on an increase, according to farmers the future of the industry remains uncertain. It is because of the lack of young farmers who are willing to follow in the footsteps of their precursors. According to Mr. Inuvil “The next generation is not keen on getting their hands dirty and they dislike hard work. They do not want to take up the field of farming. They prefer being in air conditioned offices or being doctors and lawyers. They have dreams of their own and being a grape farmer is hardly one of them”, and so it seems that the “like father like son” days are long gone.

It is evident that times have changed and that even in a country like Sri Lanka where traditions and culture are a main part of its people’s day to day lives, the younger generation is hardly found being limited by said traditions or cultures. Today’s youth is much more commercialized and they crave ways of earning riches in much easier ways than laboring away in farms and fields under a scorching sun. Another reason for the possible declining of future farmers is the perception that agriculture is an unprofitable or oor industry to be in as this is often the image that is projected by the media and otherwise, however many successful farmers like Mr. Inuwil would strongly disagree. According to him, it is a matter of willing to be hard working, committed, sacrificial and patient; all traits that he says most of the younger generation lack. Here arouses the question; even though grape farming in the north is at present in a very good state, after the existing generation of farmers is long gone will the industry still survive or will it simply turn into yet another dying art? -Sandarangi Perera