Maize in the Rainfed Areas of Pakistan: An Analysis for Production Sustainability (Self-Reliance IN Agriculture) (Report‪)‬

Maize is the major summer cereal crop in the rainfed areas of Pakistan. The farmers in these areas are poor having small holdings and so, they do not invest much for growing maize crop. A trial, super imposed with three major production inputs was conducted at farmer's field to identify economical technology sustainable over the years in the next century for growing maize crop in the rainfed areas of Pakistan. The improved seed had positive effects on the grain and stalk yields. Though variety plus herbicide, variety plus herbicide plus fertiliser and the variety plus fertiliser gave the maximum net benefit but their combinations involved higher cost of production which is beyond the reach of the majority of the farmers so cannot be adopted by the farmers of the area. The next higher returning (20 percent) is the improved seed only involving a nominal cost of Rs 40. The analysis was revised in 1997 and projected for the year 2003 to see the impact of changing prices on the utilisation of these production inputs separately or in alternative combinations. With the combination of improved seed and herbicide, the net benefit was reduced to 21 percent upto the year 2003. Due to the increasing cost involved, the combination of improved seed and herbicide, is not economical to apply. The benefit achieved by the use of improved seed alone reduced to 18 percent up to year 2003. Other combinations became disadvantageous. With the nominal increase in the cost and the highest cost-benefit ratio, it is concluded that the use of improved seed would be the solution for sustainable production of maize in the rainfed areas of Pakistan. 1. INTRODUCTION