Agronomists say that water logging, salinity, and non-agricultural uses are squeezing Pakistan's precious arable lands and posing serious threat to the agriculture sector and nation's food security.
They estimate that everyday approximately 500 acres (1 acre = 4,840 square yards) of farmland is taken out of agriculture by the expansion of settlements, roads, factories and many other non-agricultural activities in the country
They predict that if this trend continues then after every decade approximately a million acre or more of crop land would be taken out of agriculture in our country which is far more than other countries of the region.
They say that arable land is a basic and major resource for the production of human food. But it seems that the expansion of human population and human activities are reducing the availability of land, suitable for food production at an alarming rate.
Expanding population demands more food on one side and devours agricultural land on the other side, which is a matter of great concern for everyone. They say that out of total lands area, 80 million hectares, 21 million hectares is cultivable. On the one hand, the nation needs more food to fulfil the demands of its increasing population while on the other hand, each year the cultivable commanded area (CCA) is decreasing due to this twin menace of water logging and salinity.
According to the estimates made by Soil Survey of Pakistan, the total extent of salt affected soils in the Indus Plain is more than 15 million acres out of which 7.8 million acres exist within the cultivable area.
This problem has destroyed millions of acres of farmland in the country. Water logging and deposition of whitish crust of salts are changing farmland into unproductive land and many areas, the crop fields are reduced considerably.
Soil scientists say that during every five minutes, one acre fertile farmland is taken out from agriculture, because of this problem. Over the years, about 40 per cent of the irrigated cropping land in Pakistan, which produces around 90 per cent of the total agricultural output of the country has come under water logging.
This makes the land non-cultivable and poses a serious threat to the agriculture sector and to the country, as agriculture is the bloodline of Pakistan's economy.
These maladies have overlapped over more than 6 million hectares in the country. These two problems are inter-linked and co-exist at most of the places. Experts' reports say that the impact of water logging on crop yields is startling. A decrease in the depth of water level within five feet inhibits root growth and causes yields of all major crops to decline rapidly.
The impact of salinity on agriculture productivity is similarly severe, robbing Pakistan of about 25 per cent of its potential production of major crops. It may be added that farming is Pakistan's largest economic activity. Agriculture and small-scale forestry and fishing contributed 25 percent of GDP and employed 40 percent of the labour 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 realising the large potential yield that the well-irrigated and fertile soil from the Indus irrigation system could produce.
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. Thus, estimates of grazing land vary widely-between 10 percent and 70 percent of the total area. Some scientists categorise almost all of arid Balochistan as range land for foraging livestock.
Around 70 percent of the cropped area is in Punjab, followed by perhaps 20 percent in Sindh, less than 10 percent in the North West Frontier Province, and only 1 percent in Balochistan. They say that considering that 80 per cent of Pakistan's cultivated area of about 17 million hectares is irrigated network, the Indus River irrigation system, the threat to agriculture is not just serious, it is grim and could result in emptying the country's food basket. Implications of water logging and salinity can be described in one word: "disastrous."
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