by Tahir Ali

 

MALAKAND, June 25 (Gwadar Pro)- Wheat farmers in the hilly areas of the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) still use the old methods and tools during harvest, the complete harvest in a longer period and with low yields. However, they are optimistic that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will bring China’s modern agricultural tools to the region to get good yields with less effort as the rest of the world’s farmers do.

 

Mostly, the wheat growers cut their crops via single-handed sickles (reaping hooks), making small bundles of them and then using thrashers to separate grains from their chaffs and straws. However, the process is not so easy. The farmers are using threshers that have become almost obsolete in the developed world.

 

 

 

Muhammad Ayaz from Dir district of Malakand division uses hand harvester for reaping wheat crops. He borrowed the hand-harvester from a neighbor who brought it from abroad. “The reaper is saving time and money; in an hour the machine can harvest more wheat than what eight men harvest with a scythe or a scythe,” Muhammad Ayaz told Gwadar Pro. According to him, the hand-harvester could be more advantageous if the soil is leveled. Muhammad Ayaz’s old-styled harvester consumes a liter of gasoline (cost Rs. 112) in one-hour time; however, the latest China-made manual harvesters can work fast and consume less fuel.

 

Muhammad Dervish, a farmer from Khanpur area of Dir, said if local cultivators received the latest agricultural tools, they could increase their yield. “We need mini tractors with ploughs and hand-harvesters to use them on our small plots,” he said.

 

In some areas of the Malakand division, small manual harvesters driven by tractors are also visible on the ground. However, such reapers could only be used on plain and relatively large-sized land. “The harvesters who fit on tractors charge the farmer, so the poor cultivators avoid availing their services and opt to harvest with sickles,” said Jehan Khan. “The farmers will adopt the latest agricultural tools if they get them at cheaper prices,” he added.

 

 

 

Farmers also felt a strong need for mini shredders that could be transported and operated without any tractors. Majority of people use thrashers run by tractors. In hilly areas, if a field is inaccessible for tractors to reach, farmers first cut the wheat, then bundle them, and bring them down on their back to plain areas for threshing.

 

Professor Dr Asghar Khan of Swat University said that farmers could bring “the green revolution if they start using the latest agricultural tools like Chinese agriculturists are using” and he added, “However, the tools must be available in the local markets and farmers should be encouraged and trained to use them.”

 

 

Dr Amjad Zarin, who studied in China, told Gwadar Pro that Chinese farmers receive high yields from small fields in mountainous areas. “They use technology based on the demand for the land,” he said and added that Rashakai Special Economic Zone under CPEC will provide an opportunity for local and foreign companies to manufacture agricultural tools that suit local farmers, especially in mountainous areas.