Land Levelling
The increase in production per unit area has limitations and is not sufficient to fulfill the food requirement of the ever increasing population. Therefore, the horizontal and accelerated way to increase the food production is by increasing the area under cultivation through development of culturable wasteland with the use of bulldozers. A culturable wasteland of approximately 3.79 million acres is available for development in Punjab which is 12.21% of cultivated area. For development of this cultureable waste land, Field Wing of Agriculture Department currently has a fleet of 297 bulldozers in good working condition in all over the Punjab. Field Wing is providing the following services to the farmers with the help of these bulldozers on subsidized rates.
- Development of Culturable Wasteland
- Improve the Existing Cultivated Land
- Reclamation of Eroded and Gullied Lands
In addition to this, the bulldozers are also deployed for other resources development such as construction of mini dams, water storage tanks, fish ponds, desilting of canals, defense works, plugging of canal breaches, rehabilitation of flood affected areas and during flood emergency.
How to Avail Services
The Agricultural Engineers placed at divisional level controls the land development operations in their respective divisions/area. He is supported by one Assistant Agricultural Engineer (Field) who is responsible for hiring of bulldozer services in respective districts. Unit Supervisor is also placed at tehsil / unit level.
For acquiring services, the farmer / beneficiary must contact concerned district / unit office and complete the formalities. For hiring of bulldozers, the farmers submit an application on prescribed Proforma to the Assistant Agricultural Engineer or Unit Supervisor who is fully authorized for booking of bulldozer through cash deposit and operation of machinery. A challan form is prepared by the Officer/Unit Supervisor indicating the charges to be deposited by the applicant and hours of bulldozers booked for the purpose. After depositing money in the government treasury/bank the farmer is eligible to get the bulldozer on his turn.
Service Hiring Rates
Agriculture Work
| Farmer having Land Holding < 12.5 Acres | Rs. 560/- * |  |
| Farmer having Land Holding > 12.5 to < 25 Acres | Rs. 100/- ** | |
| Farmer having Land Holding > 25 Acres | Rs. 650/- ** | |
| Government Departments | Rs. 2120/-* / Rs. 650/-** |
Non Agriculture Work
| Contractor / Agency / Department / NGO etc. | Rs. 2750/-* / Rs. 1280/-** |
- * Diesel will be provided by the Department
- ** Diesel will be provided by the User
Note:
- All rates are applicable on hourly basis
- For non agricultural work same rates apply to all i.e. Contractor / Agency / Department / NGO etc.
Water Resources Development
Timely and adequate availability of water is extremely important and pre-requisite to increase agricultural production and to ensure sustainability of agriculture. The surface water resources of Punjab are finite and potential for increasing water supplies is limited. Most of the agriculture in the Punjab is irrigated as it is the more economical and remunerative and supply more than 90% of agricultural production. The horizontal expansion in cultivated area and increased cropping intensity has resulted in a net irrigation water deficit of about 50%. In order to meet the growing irrigation water demand, the surface water supplies are supplemented through exploitation of groundwater. The groundwater has a vital role in the development of agricultural and rural economy.
For exploitation of ground water resources, Field Wing of agriculture department is maintaining Well Drilling machinery and equipment consisting of 19 power drilling rigs, 60 hand boring plants and 28 electric resistivity meters for exploration of groundwater resources. The services of well drilling machinery and equipment are provided to the farmers for agricultural purpose on subsidized rates.
How to Avail Services?
The Agricultural Engineer (Well Drilling) placed with Directors of Agricultural Engineering at Multan, Faisalabad & Lahore, controls the activity in the province. For drilling operation, the Assistant Agricultural Engineers (Well Drilling) are working at district level and Drilling Supervisors at Unit level.
For acquiring services, the farmer/beneficiary must contact concerned office personally and complete the formalities. The farmer submits an application on prescribed proforma to the Assistant Agricultural Engineer or Drilling Supervisor who is fully authorized for booking through cash deposits in government treasury and provision of the service. After making payment for the footage to be drilled with machinery, farmers are eligible to get drilling machinery. Hire rates of drilling machinery are as under:
Hand Boring Plants
| Bore Size (Inches) |
Full Rate * (Rs. per Foot) |
Subsidized Rate (Rs. per Foot) |
| 7 | 17 | 5 |
| 8 | 18 | 8 |
| 10 | 22 | 11 |
| 12 | 39 | 21 |
| 14 | 46 | 24 |
| 16 | 53 | 27 |
| 18 | 56 | 30 |
Power Drilling Rig
| Bore Size (Inches) |
Full Rate * (Rs. per Foot) |
| 8-10 | 149 |
| 12-15 | 217 |
| 16-18 | 257 |
| 19-20 | 424 |
| 21-24 | 496 |
Groundwater Exploration Equipment
|
Rs. 3900/- per survey* |
Energy Audit of Tube wells
Well Drilling Section of Field Wing is also conduction Energy Audit of Tubewells and providing Tubewell Advisory Services to the farmers. This facility is available to the farmers free of cost.
- * 30% extra is charged for non-agriculture and commercial works
Soil and Water Conservation
A dry, barren, often sand covered area of land is waterless and without vegetation cover. The common features of such land are; low precipitation, high temperature, high evaporation, low humidity, poor rain water efficiency, water percolation and low productivity. These lands are called Barani and Arid lands but still are not considered wastelands as these can be used for cultivation and crop production through soil and water conservation activities.
The Services of soil & water conservation are provided by the Directorate of Soil Conservation Punjab, Rawalpindi in the Barani and hill torrent areas of the Punjab. Soil and water conservation services to the farmers for agricultural purpose are provided through District Officers Soil Conservation on subsidized rates. The main tasks of Soil & Water Conservation are listed below:
- To contain soil erosion process in the cultivable area and the adjoining uncultivated lands and to save these areas from further degradation
- To make maximum use of run-off water by conserving it into the field by various moisture conservation measures
- To bring more area under cultivation through reclamation and gully control techniques
- Exploitation of water resource through various means of providing assured water supply for irrigation purposes (mini dams and ponds)
Some of the works being undertaken for soil and water conservation purpose are
- Construction of Mini Dams
- Water Storage Tanks
- Construction of Water Outlet Structures
- Retaining Walls
- Land Reclamation through Gully Plugging
- Stream Bank Training
- Moisture Conservation Practices such as Terrace Forming & Deep Ploughing
Research and Development
The existing potential for increasing food production requires the application of appropriate agricultural machinery and equipment, seeds of good quality, optimum use of chemicals and fertilizers. Agricultural machinery is of special importance in increasing agriculture yields and production as it improves the quality of work, enables carrying out work on schedule and reduces labour.
Agricultural Mechanization Research Institute, Multan is undertaking R&D for low cost and appropriate agricultural machinery and farm mechanization technologies. The institute is providing industrial extension service to the local agricultural machinery manufactures for production of standardized and quality machinery and implements through prototype development, testing & evaluating. It also imparts technical guidance to the farmers for proper selection, operation and maintenance of agricultural machinery and equipment. The institute provides technical assistance to provincial and districts agriculture wings for selection and procurement of agricultural machinery & equipment.
Repair and Maintenance
The Field Wing is maintaining 24 workshops throughout the Punjab for repair and maintenance of bulldozers, well drilling machinery and equipment and transport vehicles. Beside R&M of departmental machinery and equipment, workshop services are also available for the farmers for repair and maintenance of their farm machinery and equipment. The services to the farmers are provided on actual cost basis against advance deposit of estimated charges.
- Engine overhauling, major & minor repair and tracks system re-building / repair of bulldozers
- Repair of well drilling machinery
- Repair and overhauling of supervisory / transport vehicles
Divisional Workshops
The divisional workshops include machine shop, welding shop, electrical shop, fuel injection pump shop, vehicle shop, bulldozer engine shop, under carriage shop, carpentry shop, foundry shop, black smith / forging shop and fitting shop. These workshops are located in Bahawalpur, Multan, Faisalabad, Lahore, Quaidabad, Layyah, Rawalpindi and Talagang.
District Workshops
The district workshops include machine shop, welding shop, electrical shop, vehicle shop, black smith and fitting shop. These workshops are located in D. G. Khan, Sahiwal, Gujranwala, Mianwali, Attock, Khanpur, Bahawalnagar, Vehari, Kasur, Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Gujrat, Sargodha, Jhelum, Jhang & Rawalpindi (SC).