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Sindh CRS: Base Line SurveyAgriculture Information System
Building Provincial Capacity for Crop Forecasting and Estimation
A joint FAO, UN, SUPARCO & Crop Reporting Service, Government of Sindh publication
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P a k i s t a n S p a c e a n d U p p e r A t m o s p h e r e R e s e a r c h C o m m i s s i o n
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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, UN) in collaboration with Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) is implementing a project to enhance provincial capacity for crop forecasting and estimation, using state of the art technologies. In this regard sustainable, fast track methods and tools are being developed using Satellite Remote Sensing (SRS), Geographical Information System (GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
Transferring of these developed methodologies to the provinces is a continuous process and is being undertaken through training of appropriately qualified personnel of the Crop Reporting Services. During the current year two training courses namely Land Cover Classification & Mapping and Estimation of Crop area using Area Frame Sampling were carried out. The officials of the Punjab and Sindh Crop Reporting Services participated in these courses. Additionally, a series of training manuals
PREFACE
are being developed and printed to provide guidelines to frontline and senior officers in the Crop Reporting Services. The basic purpose is to improve the techniques and delivering capacity of the Provincial Governments to provide time series information on crops and develop capacity to handle emergency situations during floods, drought or other unprecedented events.
Moreover, it was planned to carry out a baseline survey of Crop Reporting Services to document the present capacity of the Crop Reporting Services, so as to ensure a valid comparison at the end of the project implementation period.
SUPARCO and FAO,UN acknowledge with thanks the cooperation and support extended by the professionals of the Sindh Crop Reporting Service at the level of Director, Statisticians and others, to compile this base line survey.
Funding support of USDA to carry out this base line study is also acknowledged with appreciation.
John S. LathamSenior Land and Water Officer (Geospatial)NRL - UN/FAO
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ISBN : 978-969-9102-09-7
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ACRONYMS
AF Area Frame
AFV Area Frame Villages
BPS Basic Pay Scale
CRS Crop Reporting Service
FAO Food & Agriculture Organization of UN
GIS Geographic Information System
GPS Global Positioning System
KP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
LCCS Land Cover Classification System
NCRG National Center for Remote Sensing & Geo-Informatics
ICT Information and Communication Technology
MINFA Ministry of Food & Agriculture
PBS Pakistan Bureau of Statistics
PC1 Planning Commission 1
PSDP Public Sector Development Program
SRS Satellite Remote Sensing
SUPARCO Pakistan Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission
USDA United States Department of Agriculture
VMS Village Master Sample
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction 09
2. Cropping Seasons 09
3. Organizational Structure 12
4. Training Programs 15
5. Transport 15
6. Equipment / Software 16
7. Budget and Financial Support 16
8. Methods, Tools and Techniques 16
9. Survey Methodology 19
a) Area Collection Technique 19
b) Crop Yield Estimation Technique 19
c) Time Consumed for Conducting Field Surveys and Crop Yield Estimates 20
d) Size of Plot and Time Consumed for Yield Estimation 20
e) Reporting Timelines 20
f) Reporting Schedule 21
g) Limitations/Problems in Existing System 22
10. Quality of Pakistan’s Agricultural Statistics 22
11. Database 22
12. Availability of Information to End User 23
13. Creating Knowledge base for Scaling the Methods, Tools and Capacities 23
14. Crop Reporting Schedules and Publications 23
15. Sustainability 23
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Base Line Survey Agriculture Information System
1. Introduction
Pakistan has continental climate with extreme variations in diurnal and seasonal temperatures. Dust storms and heat waves are common features during summer and cold waves occur during winter. Rainfall is mainly brought by the monsoon during July to mid September and westerly disturbances during winter, causing light showers in south and heavy rains in north. Large areas in the region of Sukkur- Lahore- Peshawar remain in the grip of fog during mid December to mid January. The coastal areas observe tropical storms during pre and post summer months. All these climatic variables affect crops and human life in the region.
Sindh province is mainly a dry region and is relatively more arid than the upcountry areas. The agriculture is mainly an endowment of the network of barrages and canals on river Indus. The province has been bestowed with a number of lakes and water bodies. The terrain of the province is almost flat and drainage of water is a serious problem whenever there are floods or heavy rains. Two spinal drainage systems have been devised on the left and right bank of Indus to address this impediment. The sub surface water outside the river bed is generally brackish and unfit for agriculture purposes.
The province has four distinct ecological/cropping regions. The Indus delta in the extreme south is fertile and famous for growing rice and sugarcane crops. The Tharparkar in the south east of the province is a desert area and has sustained livestock, wildlife and limited cropping. The region has witnessed massive migration of human and livestock during years of drought. The Kirthar range in the west of the province consists of a series of analogue rocky hillocks, with more or less barren land surface features. It supports wild life. The remaining area in Sindh is irrigated and can be
categorized into three sub regions viz. right bank with rice and the left bank with cotton crops. The proliferated river bed is called “katcho area“ covering almost 0.6 million ha. This is a fertile land but is also prone to intermittent flooding.
The large consumption markets of Karachi and Hyderabad have played their part in shaping cropping pattern of the province. The focus is to grow horticultural crops to meet human requirements and fodders to feed the animals in addition to wheat, cotton, rice and sugarcane. Being a frost free zone onion, chillies , tomatoes and other crops are also cultivated. Farmers generate good cash flows on account of these crops .
2. Cropping Seasons
There are two main crop growing seasons in Pakistan. The winter crops (Rabi, meaning spring) are sown during October-December and are harvested during March-April. The sowing season of summer crops (Kharif, meaning autumn) is generally longer. It starts in February for sugarcane, March-May for cotton and June-July for rice. The harvesting of these crops starts in September and continues up to December with the exception of sugarcane that can proceed up to March or even beyond. The planting of orchards and other trees
is carried out in spring (February-March) or during monsoon (July-August). The cropping schedule of various crops in Pakistan is as follow:
Building Provincial Capacity for Crop Forecasting and Estimation
Purana Dero, Sindh
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Cultivation Harvesting Cultivation & Harvesting
Crop Province Region Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Wheat Punjab Potohar
Irrigated Fallow
Irrigated after Kharif
Sindh Lower
Upper
KP Plains
Hilly Area
Balochistan Plains
Cotton Punjab Southern & Central
Sindh Mirpur Khas
Hyderabad, Badin
Upper
KP D I Khan
Balochistan Lasbela, Nasirabad
Sugarcane Punjab Spring
Sindh Autumn
Spring
KP Spring
Rice Punjab Basmati
Irri
Sindh Kotri
Sukkur
Guddu
KP Plain Areas
Hilly Areas
Balochistan
Potato Punjab Autumn
Spring
KP Autumn
Spring
Balochistan Summer
Onion Punjab All
Sindh Lower
Upper
KP Plains
Hilly Areas
Balochistan Uplands
Plains
Maize Punjab Autumn
Spring
KP Plain
Hilly
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Season Crops 5 year (2005-06 To 2009-10) Average Area (000 ha)
Punjab Sindh KPK Balochistan Pakistan
Kharif Cotton 2394.6 602.2 0.5 34.2 3031.5
Sugarcane 687.6 240.9 100.8 0.6 1029.9
Maize 521.4 2.9 489.7 5.5 1019.5
Sorghum 177.4 52.9 6.5 31 267.8
Mung Beans 185.4 11.4 8.9 9.3 215
Mash Beans 25.0 1 1.5 2.9 30.4
Other Kharif Pulses 2.4 3.2 1.4 2.1 9.1
All Fruits 395.8 148.3 47.1 250.9 842.1
Vegetables (excl. Potato) 136.4 35.9 39.2 38.1 249.6
Rabi Wheat 6613.6 1005.8 750.2 381.2 8750.8
Gram 947.1 43.4 40.8 35.7 1067
Rapeseed, Canola & Mustard 129 52 17.8 33.8 232.6
Potato 125.5 0.3 9.2 2.6 137.6
Onion 35 52.6 12.1 37.8 137.5
Lentil 18.1 5.8 4.7 3 31.6
Spring Maize 521.4 2.9 489.7 5.5 1019.5
Fodders 1971.6 303.2 104.2 39.1 2418.1
Rabi vegetables 136.4 35.9 39.2 38.1 249.6
Citrus 186.5 4.5 4.3 1.3 196.6
The wheat, cotton, rice, sugarcane and maize occupy the main cropped land and are categorized as major crops. The remaining crops are categorized as minor crops, because these are grown on smaller areas. The typical area share of various groups of crops is as follows:
The district wise production maps of various crops in Sindh are as follow:
SINDH WHEAT PRODUCTION SINDH COTTON PRODUCTION
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SINDH RICE PRODUCTION
SINDH SUGARCANE PRODUCTION
SINDH CHILLIES PRODUCTION
3. Organizational Structure
In Sindh, the Crop Reporting Service became an independent entity during 2005 after Planning Commission (PC) advised all the provincial governments to follow the model of Punjab. The details are as follows:
a) Manpower
b) Capacity in Satellite Based Crop Monitoring
Three professionals are being employed on the said project by Provincial Agriculture Department. Their expertise in the fields of remote sensing and GIS. SUPARCO has arranged a number of trainings for the incumbents of CRS Sindh. The details of the persons trained for CRS Sindh are as follows:
S # Name of PostsBPS
Sanctioned strength
Filled PostsTechnical Manpower
1 Director 19 1 1
2 Statistician 18 2 1
3Assistant Director
17(sp) 22 12
4 Statistical Officer 17 55 28
5Computer Programmer
17 1 -
6Computer Operator
12 23 -
7 Crop Reporter 11 378 274
TOTAL 482 316
Secretarial Staff
8Administrative Officer
16 1 -
9Office Superintendent
16 1 1
10 Stenographer 15 1 -
11 Office Assistant 14 3 1
12 Steno Typist 12 2 2
13Computing Clerk/Typist
5 34 22
14 Driver 4 27 3
15 Naib Qasid 1 17 14
Total 86 41
Total 568 357
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c) Equipment and Funding Supplied by SUPARCO
SUPARCO has also supplied equipment and funds to support the activities of the province. The details are as follows:
S # Name of Training
Organization Place # of persons trained
1. Crop area & yield estimation by remote sensing
SPOT Image, Toulouse, France
Islamabad 4
2. Application of Remote Sensing to crop estimations
University of Liege
Arlon, Belgium
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3. Satellite based crop Monitoring
SUPARCO Islamabad 50
4. Ground Truthing Surveys
SUPARCO Field Schools
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S # Item as per PC-1 Quantity
1. Computer Branded 04
2. Computer Note Books 02
3. Printer A4 size 01
4. Printer A3 size 01
5. GPS Receiver 02
Field visit of the trainees
Training of CRS officials at NCRG, Karachi
Training of CRS officials
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d) Organogram
The Organogram of Sindh Crop reporting Service is given below:
DirectorCrop Reporting Services
AgricultureBPS-19
Assistant Director BPS-17(s)
District Level
Assistant Director BPS-17(s)
District Level
Statistician BPS-18
Hyderabad Region
Statistician BPS-18
Sukkur Region
Statistical Officer BPS-17
Statistical Assistant
BPS-17
Statistical Officer BPS-17
Statistical Assistant
BPS-17
Hyderabad, T.M Khan, T. Allahyar, Matiari, Dadu, Thatta, Karachi, Sanghar, Umerkot, Tharparker, Jamshoro
One at Two Taualaka level
At selected Deh level
Sukkur, Ghotki, Khaipur, N. Feroz, Sh. Benazirabad, Larkana, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Qambar, Kashmore
One at Two Taualaka level
At selected Deh level
e) Directorate of Crop Reporting Services
The Directorate is responsible for collecting both major and minor crop data from all the districts of the province. The first, second and final estimates are released as per the approved crop reporting schedule.
I. Director
The Director is head of the Department and responsible for implementation of the Crop reporting programs in the province. Moreover, supervises all activities of the department and presents the final crop estimates before the Sub-Committee of Sindh Agriculture Statistical, Coordination Board for discussion / approval. After approval from the Board, the provincial government issues the final estimates.
II. Statisticians/RegionalOffices
There are two Regional Offices of the Crop Reporting Service one is at Hyderabad and other at Sukkur. These Regional Offices are headed by a Statistician, who is In-charge of the region and is responsible to collect the data from the districts and submit the same to Director for release of the estimates at provincial level.
III. Assistant Directors
The Assistant Director is incharge of the district and is responsible for carrying out the survey work of various crops and forwarding the data within the stipulated time frame. Furthermore, he supervises the activities of Statistical Officers and Crop Reporters of the District.
IV. StatisticalOfficers
The Statistical Officer is incharge of two to three Taualakas (sub-district) and responsible for collecting data from the crop reporters for onward dispatch to Assistant Director for compilation at District level. Moreover, also supervises and monitors the survey work of Crop Reporters of the Taualakas.
CRS Officials training at Islamabad
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V. Crop Reporters
The Crop Reporter is the basic field worker and conducts area and yield estimation surveys of one or two selected villages in each season and reports to the concerned Statistical Officer.
f) Monitoring of Field Activities
4. Training programs
The pattern in all the provinces is the same. The training programs are confined to one day refresher course at the beginning of Rabi and Kharif seasons. The formal / mandatory trainings are not there. The trainings available are of casual nature. These trainings have been mainly imparted by Federal Government either by the former Ministry of Food and Agriculture or Federal Bureau of Statistics. Some trainings are also arranged by the provincial Bureau of Statistics.
Director To supervise / check 5% activities of Province.
Statistician To supervise / check 20% activities of Region.
Assistant Director To supervise / check 50% activities of District.
Statistical Officer To supervise / check 70% activities under jurisdiction.
5. Transport
The mobility of the field staff is an integral component of a successful field program. The emphasis has been to provide transport facility at all tiers. A revolving fund was established by the former Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture at the province level to provide motorcycles to the village and tehsil based staff on the basis of payment in instalments which are free of interest. This program is progressing well under a phased manner. Hopefully, the entire staff at tehsil / village level will benefit from this facility. However the district, region and province level staff require jeeps, which are not sufficient in number. Funding support is needed to meet this short fall. The details are as follows:
S # Category Area covered Requirement Availability Deficit
1 Motorcycle AF Village 600 400 200
2 Jeeps District 23 20 3
Division 2 2
Province HQR 4 1 3
Sugarcane Harvesting
Wheat Threshing
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6. Equipment / Software
The equipment and software availability and requirement is as follows:
Equipment
Software
7. Budget and Financial Support
The total annual allocation of budget for the year 2011-12 was Rs.108.9 million. The salary component is Rs. 97.9 million and operational funds are Rs. 11 million. Some grants were provided by the former Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture and SUPARCO in the shape of provision of equipment, trainings, transport and study tours.
8. Methods, Tools and Techniques
There has been a wide variation in methodology and techniques. Their description is given as under.
a) Opinion surveys
Initially the area was taken from the Revenue Department and the crop yield was collected through opinion surveys. A large number of Kharif and Rabi crops are still being covered through opinion surveys in the above manner. However, statistics on wheat, cotton, rice and sugarcane are being collected through area frame system since 1982.
b) Area Frame System
In 1978, the Federal Bureau of Statistics initiated the work on area frame system in collaboration
with former Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The basic data was collected from Sindh Revenue Department for the year 1976-77. This data was stratified based on the size of village's viz. small, medium and large villages. This was called Wheat frame. The crops covered and the number of villages selected as sample, was wheat 285, rice 140, cotton 125 and sugarcane 75. Given the level of difficulties in covering sugarcane the work on this crop was stopped after a few years.
c) Multiple Cropping Area Frame System
The system was reviewed by the Federal Bureau of Statistics in 2007 using the land records of the year 2005-06. The basis of stratification was improved. The other procedures were generally the same. The numbers of sample villages, in the
Equipment Requirement Availability Deficit
Desktop Computers
32 22 10
Laptops 30 2 28
Printers 10 - 10
Plotters 3 - 3
Storage server 3 - 3
Work stations 7 - 7
GPS receivers 23 - 23
GPS Cameras 23 - 23
Mini harvester (s) 23 - 23
Weighing Balance 23 - 23
Moisture tester 23 - 23
Discipline Software Requirement Availability Deficit
Statistical SPSS 1 1 0
SAS 1 - 1
Excel Stat 1 - 1
Econometric EVIEWS 1 1 0
GIS Arc GIS 9.x 1 - 1
RS ERDAS Imagine 9.x 1 - 1
Crop simulation
Agro met Shell 1 - 1
Crop wat 1 - 1
Aqua crops 1 - 1
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multiple crop area frames , 599 for Rabi and 601 for Kharif seasons. The crops covered under the program include:
Rabi Crops: WheatKharif Crop: Cotton, rice, sugarcane
d) Small Crop Area Frame
The small crops covered under the Area Frame system in Sindh include:
Rabi Crops: Gram, oilseeds, tobaccoKharif Crop: Chillies, moong, mash
Some photographs of the field activities of Crop Reporting Service are given below:
Ground truthing at Ghotkii Damaged cotton field after floods
GPS based field training
Training at NCRG, Karachii
CRS / SUPARCO Officials at Tando Allah Yar
Picking of cotton at Tando Muhammad Khan
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e) Integrated Overall System
The overall system of crop reporting in Sindh currently includes both objective and subjective techniques. The crops covered under objective techniques are Wheat, Gram, Oilseeds, Cotton, Rice, Sugarcane, Tobacco, Chillies, Moong and Mash. The crops covered under subjective technique include Millet, Sorghum, Guar seed, Matter, other Kharif and Rabi Pulses, Groundnut, Sesame, Linseed, Castor seed, Garlic, Coriander, Turmeric, Fodders and all Fruit crops.
f) Application of Remote Sensing & GIS
The CRS Department has been working with SUPARCO since 2005. Fifty six of its personnel have been trained in satellite based crop area and yield estimation. One hundred Crop Reporters are participating in the GPS based ground truthing surveys for both the cropping seasons over the last six years.
S. # DistrictsSample Size
Kharif Rabi
1 BADIN 21 41
2 DADU 21 27
3 JAMSHORO 8 16
4 HYDERABAD 19 20
5 MATIARI 25 28
6 T.M.KHAN 26 14
7 TANDO ALLAHYAR 25 22
8 THATTA 31 20
9 KARACHI 5 7
10 JACOBABAD 24 24
11 KASHMORE 22 24
12 LARKANA 27 27
13 SHAHDAD KOT 29 28
14 SHIKARPUR 30 32
15 MIRPURKHAS 35 32
16 UMER KOT 24 24
17 SANGHAR 39 41
18 THARPARKAR 28 0
19 GHOTKI 34 31
20 KHAIRPUR 43 39
21 NAUSHEHROFEROZE 28 39
22 NAWABSHAH 33 36
23 SUKKUR 24 27
TOTAL 601 599
g) Villages in the Area Frame
The district wise detail of villages in the area frame is as follows:
Field Survey
Rice Field
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9. Survey Methodology
The survey methodology is more or less uniform as Pakistan Bureau of Statistics designed it for all the provinces. One AF village is assigned to each Crop Reporter with supervisory system at tehsil and district /division /province level; the surveys are carried out three times during each of the cropping season to cover for early and late sown crops.
a) Area Collection Technique
CRS staff carries out field surveys of the area frame villages. To this end, Crop Reporters are posted, at least by definition, one in each area frame village. These Crop Reporters are supposed to move from field to field and record the details of all land cover features, including crops, settlements, roads, heaps of straw/cotton sticks and others etc. By procedure, they are required to record all features with land cover area of more than one marla (160th of an acre or 25.29 m2). The non-crop features within the boundary of a field are subtracted from the cropped area. For orchards with mixed cropping, the area of crop is usually worked out.
Field surveys (girdawari) for each crop are carried out twice during each cropping season. Initially it is done around completion of sowing of a crop. The first girdawari is designed to make an early assessment of area sown under crops. A second girdawari is carried out at an advanced stage of crop growth. The idea is to revise the initial area estimate to a better precision and exclude some of the areas, which sometimes, farmers plough down for crop failures, owing to failures for multiple reasons. The objective of this girdawari is also to make a subjective assessment of crop production, by assessing positive and negative factors of crop growth. Additional girdawari, if needed, are designed on a tailor made basis on specific requirements.
The designed sample surveys, like statistical techniques elsewhere, are used to work out data
for the whole set of population, within a given frame (district in CRS). The area frame data are supplied by village Crop Reporters to the district administration of CRS. At district level, the data of all area frame villages are gathered and used to make area estimate of the whole district. The area frames represents around 5% of the total area.
b) Crop Yield Estimation Technique
For yield estimation, a standard and well defined procedure is followed using random tables. Three samples of 15 ft x 20 ft in duplicate are selected in each area frame village at harvest and in-situ crop cutting is carried out. The yield is worked out for the entire village, based on these samples. The village data is cumulated at district level and used to emulate yield for the whole district. The final estimate of production is worked out by using yield from the CRS and area data from Revenue Department. The revenue staffs, called patwari, visits each field in the village. The system is designed to cover 100 % villages of province and collect the information on area sown under various crops during Kharif and Rabi seasons. However, in actual practice, most of the patwaris usually go to one or more common places in a given village and record, by inquiries, the crops grown by field identity (unique field numbers of Revenue Department). This revenue record is checked jointly by the senior revenue officers CRS and Revenue Department up to district level, picking up random samples. In final assessment, the area estimation is adopted from Revenue Department. Therefore, by procedural definition, the published data, represent area from Revenue Department, yield from CRS and production is an output of both.
The purpose of area estimation by CRS is to provide information at an early stage, about a crop, as data from Revenue Department are usually available at a belated stage, around the end of a crop season.
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c) Time taken for Conducting Field Surveys
Time taken in crop area estimates are as follows:
d) Size of Plot and Time requirements for Yield Estimation
The size of plot harvested varies according to various crops. The crop specific plot sizes and time consumed in harvest / other operations are as follows:
S # Crop Plot SizeTime (days) for harvest of one field with 2 plots
No of field /village
Time (days) per village
Length (feet) Width (feet)
1 Wheat 20 15 1/ 2 3 3.0
2 Cotton 20 15 5 pickings 3 8.0
3 Rice 20 15 1/ 2 3 1.5
4 Chillies 16 12 3 pickings 3 1.5
5 Maize 20 15 1/ 2 3 1.5
e) Reporting Timelines
The Crop Reporting Service releases three estimates on area, production and average yield. The details are as follows:
I. First Estimate
First estimate provides area under the crop. It is prepared on the basis of girdawari /crop acreage survey in sample villages just after completion of sowing of crops. The first estimate is approved by the provincial Secretary Agriculture and issued by Director, Agriculture Crop Reporting Service according to crop forecast calendar.
II. Second Estimate
Second estimate of crops provides both, area and production. Area is finalized in second estimate while production is worked out by conducting grower's opinion survey, taking into consideration availability / quality of seed, climatic conditions, inputs availability, irrigation water supply condition and visual judgment of crops by field staff. This estimate is approved by the Secretary Agriculture and issued by Director of Agriculture Crop Reporting Service according to crop forecast calendar.
III. Final Estimate
The final estimate of area and production is prepared on the basis of area under the crops supplied by CRS. In Punjab the area for final estimate comes from Revenue Department but in case of Sindh the area from CRS is accepted even for the final estimate. Average
SEASON Survey
Dates of conducting Acreage Survey
Date of Issuance of Estimate
Kharif Crops
1st 1- 15th Aug Cotton:31st Aug
Rice:1st Sep (IRRI)
2nd 15 - 30 Sep Cotton:15th Nov
Rice:1st Dec
Rabi Crops
1st 1 - 15 Jan Wheat: 1st Feb
2nd 14 - 28 Feb Wheat:1st Apr
Special Survey
Sugarcane 15 - 25 May 1st June
Potato 20 - 20 Dec 1st Jan
Rice Nursery Survey
15 - 22 Jun --
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yields are worked out through objective crop cutting experiments in area frame villages. The estimates are prepared by Director CRS. These estimates are considered by a subcommittee, which is chaired by Secretary Agriculture. After approval of this sub committee, these estimates are presented to Sindh Agricultural Statistics Coordination Board (PASCB) headed by Additional Chief Secretary, Planning and Development for final approval. Thereafter, this estimate is sent to Federal Government for their release and publication.
f) Reporting Schedule
The reporting schedule of various crops is as follows:
KHARIF SEASON
S # Name of Crop 1st Estimate 2nd Estimate Final Estimate
1 Cotton 22nd July 10th October 1st January
2 Rice 15th August 10th November 1st January
3 Sugarcane 15th June 10th October 1st March
4 Jowar 15th September - 10th January
5 Bajra 15th September - 10th January
6 Maize 15th September - 10th January
7 Sesame 15th October - 10th January
8 Mung, Mash, Arhar & Other Kharif Pulses 15th August - 10th January
9 Mango, Banana, Apple, Dates, Guavas, Water Melon, Musk Melon and Other Kharif Fruits
- - 10th January
10 Lady Finger, Tinda, Bitter Gourd & other Kharif Vegetables
- - 1st January
11 Kharif Chillies, Ginger, Turmeric & Other Kharif condiments
- - 1st January
12 Kharif Fodders - - 1st January
13 Ground Nut - - 10th January
14 Castor Seed - - 1st January
15 Soybean - - 1st January
16 Guar Seed - - 1st January
17 Jute - - 1st January
18 Sun-Hemp - - 1st January
19 Sunflower - - 1st January
20 Safflower - - 1st January
Tomato picking & packing at Tando Muhammad Khan
Fertilizer application to chillies at Badin
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S # Name of Crop 1st Estimate 2nd Estimate Final Estimate
1 Wheat 15th January 15th March 15th July
2 Barley 15th December - 15th July
3 Rape Seed & Mustard 15th January - 1st July
4 Canola 15th January - 1st July
5 Gram 15th December 10th February 1st July
6 Masoor, Matter & other Rabi Pulses 15th December - 15th July
7 Onion 1st February - 15th July
8 Rabi Chillies - - 15th May
9 Fennel Garlic, Coriander & other Rabi Condiments - - 1st July
10 Potato 1st December 15th April 1st July
11 Tobacco 1st April - 1st July
12 Linseed - - 30th June
13 Orange, Lemon, Citrus Fruits & Other Rabi Fruits - - 15th June
14 Rabi Fodders - - 1st July
15 Tomato, Turnip, Carrot, Cauliflower, Matter & Other Rabi Vegetables
- - 15th June
16 Sugar Beat - - 15th June
17 Jute - - 1st January
18 Sun-Hemp - - 1st January
19 Sunflower - - 1st January
20 Safflower - - 1st January
RABI SEASON
g) Limitations/Problems in Existing System
The limitations involved in conducting the field programs include inadequate transport, lack of operational budget for crop cuts, lack of threshing and moisture estimation equipment.
10. Quality of Pakistan’s Agricultural Statistics
The statistical standards used for quality control of the data are as follows:
11. Database
CRS is maintaining a database covering the following parameters:
› Crop: area, yield and production
› Agricultural machinery
› Land use statistics
› Farm gate prices of agriculture commodities
› Farm inputs: fertilizers, seeds
› Agro-meteorology: rainfall, temperature, humidity
› Production cost of cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, maize, sunflower, gram and potato
A new land cover map is being developed by SUPARCO and CRS. It is based on the application of FAO/ISO International Land Cover Classification System (LCCS). The land cover map is expected
S #Measure of Confidence
ParameterAcceptable level
1 Coefficient of Variance
Area (+/- ) 2.5 %
2 Yield (+/- ) 1.0 %
3 Production (+/- ) 3.5 %
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to improve stratification, sample collection and efficiency.
12. Availability of Information to End User
CRS provides information to Federal Government/Federal Bureau of Statistics, Provinces, and Sindh Bureau of Statistics, Universities, Agriculture Researchers, Agriculture Extension Food Department and others. The data is released on web page of the Sindh Government. The data is also provided on demand to private sector including sugar mills, rice traders/ industry/cotton ginning/textiles, flour mills, fruit & seed processing companies and allied disciplines.
13. Creating Knowledge base for Scaling the Methods, Tools, and Capacities
The following measures need to be undertaken to build capacity:
a. Regular in-service training programs
b. Satellite image handling and processing trainings with regards to crop area estimation
c. Image classification and crop yield modelling
d. Simulation techniques/ regression modelling
e. Report writing skills
Wheat stacks after harvesting
Season Reporting Date for final estimate
Rabi Crops 1st of August
Kharif Crops 1st of February
Sugarcane 1st of April
f. Data base development
g. Spatial data base handling/ management In
h.
i. In addition, frequent consultations, workshops and seminars should be arranged.
14. Crop Reporting Schedules and Publications
The schedule for release of final crop estimation is
as follows:
15. Sustainability
The CRS, Sindh initiated a programme of satellite-based crop monitoring and reporting. In this regard, steps have been taken to recruit qualified personnel in the disciplines of Agronomy, Remote Sensing & GIS. Furthermore, CRS needs to establish appropriately staffed and equipped facility to process the satellite data at its headquarters. Additionally, it will require continuous capacity development of its staff, budgetary support and commitment from Provincial Government to dovetail this high tech monitoring of crops with the current procedures.
The CRS Sindh would also require extensive support of SUPARCO during implementation of this programme. Sindh government may also recruit more staff to have the system operational at optimum level.
The support of the USDA funded, FAO implemented project, is a critical support mechanism designed to strengthen capacity in the province.
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Fact Sheet : Crop Reporting Service, Sindh, Hyderabad
Area: million ha -2009-10 Crop Reporting Services and Methodologies
Geographical 14.090 The Crop Reporting Service in Sindh was established as a wing of Agriculture Extension Department under Joint Director Statistics during 1978. This wing was separated from the Agriculture Extension Department during the year 2005 on the advice of Planning Commission of Pakistan and was placed under Secretary Agriculture, Sindh Government. This made it an independent entity.
The Director in the set up is head of the Department. The statisticians operate in various regions /divisions of the province. The province has 23 districts including Karachi as one district .The Assistant Directors are posted at District level. The Statistical Officers work at Taualakas / Tehsil level. The Crop Reporters work in the Area Frame villages. Total manpower is 568. The total strength of the professional staff is 482 and the rest are the supporting secretariat, administration and finance personnel. The basic qualification of the professionals is a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics or Economics. The description of various methodologies adopted for reporting is as follows:
a) Opinion Surveys
Initially the area was taken from the Revenue Department and the information on crop yield was collected through opinion surveys. A large number of Kharif and Rabi crops are still being covered through opinion surveys. However the collection of statistics on wheat, cotton and rice is being carried out through area frame system since 1982. The sugarcane crop was also covered for some years through area frame system but dropped from the list in the face of difficulties encountered in collection of crop statistics of this crop.
b) Area Frame System
The work on area in the Area Frame System was started during 1978 by Federal Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with former Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The basic data were gathered from Revenue Department for the year 1976-77. These data were stratified based on the size of villages viz. small, medium and large. This was called Wheat Frame. The crops covered and the number of villages selected as sample was Wheat 285 villages, Rice 140 villages, Cotton 125 villages and Sugarcane 75 villages. After a few years the work on Sugarcane crop was stopped.
c) Multiple Cropping Area Frame System
The system was reviewed by the Federal Bureau of Statistics during the year 2007 using the land records between the years 2005-2006. The basis of stratification was improved. This time crops covered were wheat, cotton, rice and sugarcane. The other procedures were generally the same. The number of villages in the Multiple Crop Area Frames were 600 each for Rabi and Kharif seasons. The crops covered under the program include:
Rabi Crop: Wheat
Kharif Crop: Cotton, rice, sugarcane
d) Minor Crop Area Frame
The minor crops covered under the Area Frame system in Sindh include the following:
Rabi Crops: Gram, oilseeds, tobacco
Kharif Crop: Chillies, moong, mash
Forest 1.030
Cultivated 4.890
Cropped 3.830
Culturable waste 1.380
Wheat 1.100
Rice 0.710
Maize 0.003
Bajra (Millet) 0.075
Jowar (Sorghum) 0.032
Barley 0.008
Sugarcane 0.233
Cotton 0.635
Gram 0.029
Rapeseed and Mustard including Canola
0.041
Fodder 0.266
Chillies 0.064
Garlic 0.001
Onion 0.042
All pulses 0.102
Mango 0.06
Banana 0.032
Guava 0.048
Girdawari Map
