Cropping pattern zonation of Pakistan

Abstract

Crop pattern zoning is a pre-requisite for the efficient use of land, water and capital resources. The study “Cropping Pattern Zonation of Pakistan” was conducted by PARC and CIMMYT to revisit previous zoning initiatives and map sequences of seasonal crops, for rapid decision making and allocation of agriculture and natural resources in the country. For this study, we used 5 years (2013-14 to 2017-18) of data from the Department of Agricultural Statistics, Economics Wing, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, Islamabad, for 25 major and minor crops grown in 144 districts of Pakistan. Kharif (summer) crops included cotton, groundnut, maize, mashbean, mungbean, other kharif pulses, rice, sesame, sorghum, sugarcane, sunflower, and turmeric. Rabi (winter) crops included barley, chickpea, coriander, garlic, green peas, lentil, linseed, onion, potatoes, rapeseed and mustard, wheat, as well as other rabi pulses. We developed cropping pattern maps for both seasons, based on the area sown to individual crops. The study findings indicated cotton-wheat as a major sequence in the southern districts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, central districts of Sindh, and western districts of Balochistan Province. The rice-wheat rotation prevails in northeastern districts of Punjab and northwestern and southern districts of Sindh. The maize-wheat rotation is found in most of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa districts, four districts of Punjab, and three districts of Balochistan Province. The sugarcane-wheat pattern is found mainly in four districts of Punjab, and single districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan provinces. Other minor cropping patterns observed in different districts are rice-chickpea, pulses-chickpea, pulses-wheat, sorghum-wheat and sesame-barley. Long-term monitoring of cropping patterns allows researchers and policy makers to address rapid changes in climate, land use/land cover and environmental quality to achieve future sustainable development goals.