Section 3 (Crop Management)

Harris et al.
humid, sub-tropical continental climate, with fine textured alluvial soils and mean annual precipitation of
350 mm. Nowshera District is to the east of Peshawar, with soils derived from river alluvium parent
materials. The land is moderately saline and the only source of irrigation is saline tubewell water. Rainfall
is 550 mm per annum. Mardan District is north east of Peshawar, with a similar soil environment to
Nowshera but slightly more rainfall (600 mm).
Randomised Block Trials On-Station and On-Farm
Details of on-station and on-farm trials are given in Table 1. All trials were Randomised Block
Designs and results were analysed using standard ANOVA techniques.
Farmer-managed participatory (FAMPAR) trials
Simple, paired-plot trials were implemented by farmers in the villages described below. For each trial,
farmers were given 10 kg seed of cv Azam and asked to soak 5kg in water for 16 hours, dry the surface of
the seed to allow easy handling, then sow using a hollow tube (pora) to deliver seed into the furrow
behind a bullock-drawn plough. Five kg of soaked seed was sown into 0.1ha, next to a 0.1 ha plot sown
with non-primed seed on the same day. Yields were assessed by researchers who harvested three samples
per plot, each consisting of two rows, two metres long.
Gundheri village, Nowshera district (4 farmers, 1999; 7 farmers, 2000)
It is representative of a salt-affected area of almost 60,000 ha to the east of Peshawar which is
underlain by a confined saline aquifer. The water table fluctuates with rainfall and overflows from the
nearby Kabul river, but is usually below 2m. Annual rainfall is nearly 550 mm, of which 40% occurs in
each of the summer and the winter, and 10% in each of the spring and autumn. The average daily
temperature in winter is 13° C, and in summer 32°C. The climate of the area is classified as semiarid subtropical
continental lowland (305 m a.s.l.). The soils are stratified, comparatively coarse textured in the
subsoil and fine at the surface. The parent material has been deposited by the Kabul river. There is no
canal water available for irrigation, and saline tubewell water is relied upon for crop production.
Kass Kili village, Mardan District (7 farmers, 1999)
It has soils that have been deposited by river alluvium, are moderately calcareous with pH 7.5 to 8.2.
Field salinity ranges from 2.5 to 6.5 dSm -1 . Annual rainfall is nearly 500 mm, and canal water is available
for irrigation.
Sheikh Kili village Peshawar District (8 farmers, 2000)
It has soils that have been deposited by river alluvium, are moderately calcareous with pH 7.5 to 8.0.
Field salinity ranges from 2.5 to 5.0 dSm -1 . Annual rainfall is 450-500 mm, and canal water is available
for irrigation.
Ahmadwala village, Karak District (6 farmers, 2001)
It is 180 km south of Peshawar. Soil of the area is coarse textured (loamy sand to sandy loam),
formed from weathered sandstone rocks in the surrounding hills. Annul rainfall is 320 mm with summer
temperatures rising up to 46 o C. There is no source of irrigation other than limited amounts of saline
tubewell water.
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