Success Stories
Beating the Odds in Sargodha
This is the story of Chaudhry Khalid Aziz, a progressive, well educated farmer. Chaudhry Khalid is based in Tehsil Bhalwal and owns over 100acres of farming land, out of the 100acres, 60acres are being operated via Drip Irrigation System. Farmer uses his entire land holding for Citrus (Kinnow) orchard. The farmer has always been an advocate of modern agricultural practices and likes staying up-to-date with the latest trends in agriculture.
Chaudhry Khalid Aziz took the initiative to install Drip Irrigation System in 2018, since he was well aware of the water scarcity that is prevalent in our country. The underground water available to him was not suitable for farming and the limited canal water was restricting his potential to get good yield. In addition to this, since running the farm operations manually is labor intensive, the money that goes into labor charges was eating up his profits.
When it came to deciding a service provider for Drip Irrigation System, farmer chose Jaffer Agro Services, since Jaffer has been engaged in agricultural services in Pakistan for over 70 years and is known for its reliable hardware system along with excellent maintenance and agronomic services.
Today, Chaudhry Khalid Aziz farm has Jaffer Drip Irrigation System installed on 60acres of land hosting both mature and immature citrus orchard. Needless to say, the irrigation and fertigation needs of the orchards are fully met by the system. The farm acreage with Drip Irrigation System is far more profitable than all the other citrus farms in the vicinity which are still irrigated via flood irrigation.
Reminiscing about his earlier farming experience, Chaudhry Khalid Aziz says before Drip he could only get limited profits from his orchard and was not able to meeting his increasing expenses. After the installation of Drip Irrigation System, the first yield he got from his orchard was significantly more, not just increased yield but the quality of fruit had also improved which helped him in getting good rates against his produce.
Chaudhry Khalid Aziz attributes the increase in his orchard yield and improvement in the quality of produce to efficient use of water and fertilizer at the correct time. The constant monitoring and timely recommendations he got from Jaffer’s agronomy team surely helped him make his orchard a success. Testament to this entire success story is the fact that farmer was able to sell his entire produce from the farm at a consistent rate of Rs 900/maund.
Benefits of Drip Irrigation System as experienced by Chaudhry Khalid Aziz:
- Continuous growth of the plants due to (Watar) condition
- Orchard yield increased to potential capacity.
- Desirable fruit size
- Quality and uniform colored fruit. Better price in the market
- Effective use of water and fertilizer
- Reduced labor requirement, decreasing the expenses
- Required moisture level maintained in rhizosphere thus avoiding fungal diseases
- Saving of water. More acreage could be irrigated with the available water
- Better control on water irrigation. Enables to give controlled water stress to plants when needed
Farm Particulars:
- Farm Location: Village 9 Chak NB, Tehsil Bhalwal, District Sargodha.
- Irrigation System: Jaffer Drip Irrigation System
- Topography: Plain
Details of Drip Irrigation System:
| Total Area Under Drip Orchard | 60 Acres |
|---|---|
| Year of Drip Installation | 2018 |
| Subsidy Scheme | PIPIP |
| Crop under Drip System | Citrus (Kinnow) |
| Crop Spacing | 10x20 ft |
| Soil Type | Clay Loam |
| Water Source | Canal |
| Power Source | Solar |
Cost of Drip Irrigation System:
| Total Project Cost | Rs. 8,932,987 |
|
Total Farmer Share (40% of Total Project Cost) |
Rs. 3,573,195 |
Farming Practices and Cost Detail:
| Parameters | Cost Detail/acre/year Rs. |
| Land Preparation for Citrus Orchard | 10,400 |
Used Fertilizers/acre
|
23,575 |
| Cost of insecticide, weedicide and micro nutrients | 22,855 |
| Labor charges for pruning | 3600 |
| Labor charges of maintenance of Citrus orchard, hoeing, basin making and cleaning | 19,400 |
| Average cost of production/acre:( includes manager salary, General look after, watch and ward) | 9,000 |
| Average yield/acre (303 Mounds/acre with rate 900 Rs/Mound) | 272,700 |
| Net Return/acre (Income-Expenses) | 183,870 |