The robbed rights of Rajanpur

SQUEEZED between the mighty Indus river and Sulaiman Range in a 32km to 60km wide strip, the Rajanpur district is located at the far southwestern end of Punjab.

The town, which is also serving as the district headquarters, had been founded by Makhdoom Sheikh Rajan Shah after capturing the area from the Nahar tribe in 1732-33. The settlement largely remained unimportant until the 1862 flooding that severely damaged the then nearby district headquarters Mithankot, the burial place of renowned Sufi poet Khawaja Ghulam Fareed, leading to the transfer of government offices to Rajanpur.

It was granted the district status by separating two tehsils, Rajanpur and Jampur, of the then Dera Ghazi Khan district in 1982. Major castes living in the district include Bhuttas, Gopangs, Bosans, Mastois, Mohajirs (Yousufzai, Sherwani, Lodhi, Qureshi), Mashori, Dreshaks, Gabols, Mazaris, Korais,Thaheems, Bhattis, Zargars and Mughal Pathans.

Spanning over 12,318sq km, it is known for cotton and wheat crops though sugarcane and rice are also cultivated and agriculture and livestock are the main sources of livelihood for the rural population. Because geographical location and climatic conditions make agriculture production more vulnerable to various hazards, a large tract is barren and uncultivated so far.

Since rainfall is minimal and subsoil water mostly brackish, agriculture depends solely upon canal irrigation through Dajal, Link No III and Kadra canals. Statistics show that the total reported sown area is 872,500 acres, while the actual area sown is 797,500 acres. Canal tube wells irrigate 472,500 acres, canal distributaries 170,000 acres, while wells are used for watering 27,500 acres of land. The district is among the 65 per cent hill-torrent-prone areas of the country. It is unfortunate that in spite of the scarcity of water, the flood flows go wasted without being harvested due to mismanagement. In July 2015, flash floods caused by heavy rains badly affected the Rajanpur district.

Along with water scarcity and theft, the ugly business of bogus pesticides, fertilisers and seeds is thriving with the connivance of the local administration

Yousaf Gabol, a former ticket-holder of Pakistan Peoples Party in the 2013 general election, grumbles that successive governments failed to resolve the hill torrent and Indus flooding issues being faced by the local community. After the 2015 floods, a series of protests made the then government construct a protective dyke and drain. About 80pc of the project had been completed by 2018 when the change of political guards in the country put it on hold. The fate of the project is still in the doldrums, he says.

Though spread along the River Indus, the district is facing water scarcity issues. As underground water in many areas is brackish and unfit for irrigation as well as drinking purposes, people solely rely on the canals for watering their fields and meeting their domestic requirements. But water in the three canals in the district is either not released altogether or below their capacity. As if it is not enough, feudal lords of the area steal water for their lands leaving the smallholders high and dry, alleges Mr Gabol, who is also a small landholder. Water in the Dajal canal has been released just days ago, while over 50pc of wheat sowing has been completed in the district.

Sale of adulterated fertilisers, pesticides, poor quality seed and lack of guidance from the quarters concerned is making the matters worse, regrets Amer Gopang, another farmer. He says that the sale of fertilisers at shops not holding dealership licenses is disallowed under the law but the dealers themselves would sell the compost to these shops at a better rate instead of selling the same at a controlled rate directly to the farmers. He alleges that the ugly business of bogus pesticides, fertilisers and seeds is thriving with the connivance of the local administration.

The government is oblivious to the small farmers’ problems as not a single Kisan card has so far been distributed among the locals, he says.

Referring to above the provincial average yield for almost all crops in the district, he says that as Rajanpur lands are comparatively virgin their potential may be further exploited if the farming community is provided with facilities like laser land levellers, planters, extension services, etc available to growers of adjacent districts.

“The yield of cotton may be enhanced to 30-40 maunds, wheat to 60 maunds and sugarcane to 1,600 maunds per acre but lack of irrigation water as well as resources to buy better quality inputs, hire machinery and poor farming education are marring its potential,” he adds.

Wheat is sown on 597,000 acres of land and its average yield last year was five maunds more than the average yield of the province. Cotton claims around 352,000 acres with 15.84 maunds per acre yield against 14.60 maunds per acre average yield of Punjab. Sugarcane is sown on 62,000 acres and it gives 822 maunds per acre production, while the provincial average is 730 maunds per acre.

Paddy, fodder and vegetables, particularly onion, are other crops tried by the farmers. But the scarcity of water coupled with other issues had marred the popularity of paddy as its acreage had dropped to 3,000 acres during 2010-11 from 43,000 acres a couple of years ago. It regained currency only after 2017-18 as the crop was sown on 34,000 acres of land last year.

Mr Gabol says local farmers have mostly stopped growing sugarcane because of what he alleges is the exploitation of the only sugar mill located in the district. He says the mill would offer the growers half the rate, and payment of that too would be delayed for months. However, the situation somewhat improved after the construction of a bridge on the Indus at Kot Mithan making the area accessible to sugar mills from Rahim Yar Khan.

Poor infrastructure of farm to market roads and inaccessible agriculture loans for small farmers are other issues hurting farming in the district. “Smallholders are forced to approach arthi (middlemen) to get funds for purchasing seeds and other inputs for minor crops like vegetables and fodder and thus exploited by these private lenders as banks are reluctant to extend loans to them,” says Rauf Lund, president of Kisan Ikath, a local organisation of peasants. He says that banks don’t offer loans to small farmers and tenants for purchasing farm machinery as the funds allocated for the purpose by financial institutions on the directive of the State Bank go to large landholders, though they would have contracted out their lands. He alleges that the same landlords manipulate the gunny bags distribution system at the time of wheat harvesting as they get the bags in the name of their tenants and contractors, robbing the small farmers of their rights.

Mr Lund claims that there is a ban on issuing agriculture loans to farmers of arid areas for purchasing tractors, while bank officials are also creating hurdles for those who intend to get loans for installing solar tube wells to irrigate their lands.