PJB-2017-202
MICRO-FIELD RAIN-HARVESTING FARMING SYSTEM IN SEMIARID PAKISTAN: A CRITICAL TOPIC TO ADDRESS
Wen-Xuan Si, Pu-Fang Li, Muhammad Ashraf, Fei Mo, Xiao-Jie Hui, Asfa Batool, Javaid Mansoor, Muhammad Afzal, Jian Zhang and Feng-Min Li
Abstract
Arid and semiarid areas account for more than 90% of national land area in Pakistan, and over 50% of these lands are suitable for developing rainfed agriculture. Improving the efficiencies of on-field rainwater collection and utilization is a critical approach to enhance crop productivity and water use efficiency (WUE) in semiarid Pakistan. In recent decades, an innovative micro-field rain-harvesting farming technology, ridge and furrow mulching (RFM) with plastic film, has been developed in the Loess Plateau of northwest China, leading to massive increases in grain yield and WUE in dryland crops. This farming technology has been widely adopted and extended in rainfed agricultural areas where small household farmers account for the majority of population. Semiarid Pakistan has similar climatic and socioeconomic conditions with Chinese Loess Plateau, displaying a great potential to extend such a low-cost but high-efficiency farming technology. In this review paper, we present the background and advantages of this rainfed farming system and its applicable potential in Pakistan. The opportunities and challenges during the extension of this farming strategy are also discussed. In view of our previous studies and local natural & socioeconomic data, we believe that the introduction of this farming technology into Pakistan may lead to an expected increase in food and forage production and ecosystem sustainability. This may provide promising strategies to cope with climate change for regional ranifed agricultural system.
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