Factors Affecting Production

2026 Syllabus Objectives

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

  1. Explain how natural and human factors affect production on small-scale subsistence farms, including rice, wheat in barani areas, and dates/vegetables using karez irrigation
  2. Explain how natural and human factors affect the production of cash crops (cotton, rice, sugar cane as kharif crops; wheat as rabi crop)
  3. Explain how natural and human factors affect livestock farming on subsistence farms and nomadic/semi-nomadic systems including transhumance
  4. Describe different types of irrigation and explain their advantages and disadvantages
  5. Explain the causes of waterlogging and salinity, and how to restore and prevent damage
  6. Understand how government action has helped increase production
  7. Understand and evaluate the possibilities and problems of agricultural development and sustainability

1. Small-Scale Subsistence Farming

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Subsistence farming means growing crops mainly for the farmer's own family to eat. Any extra food (called surplus) is sold in the local village market. Most subsistence farmers also do other jobs like carpentry, blacksmithing, or cobbling to earn additional income.

What is a Farming System?

Think of a farm as a system with three parts:

INPUTS → PROCESSES → OUTPUTS

  • Inputs: Everything needed to start farming (land, soil, water, seeds, labour)
  • Processes: The work done on the farm (ploughing, sowing, irrigating, harvesting)
  • Outputs: What the farm produces (crops like rice, wheat, vegetables)

Natural Inputs for Subsistence Farming

Land

Flat land is best for farming because:

  • Machines can be used easily
  • Crops grow to equal heights
  • Water spreads evenly across the field
  • Less soil is washed away (soil erosion)
  • Cultivation is easier

Soil

The soil must contain:

  • Sufficient minerals for plant growth
  • Pore spaces (tiny gaps) for air and water
  • Loamy soil is ideal - it has the right balance of sand, silt, and clay
  • Alluvial soil (deposited by rivers) is excellent because it contains nutrients, holds water and fertilizers, and drains easily

Note: Clayey soil has too little space for air. Sandy soil lets water and fertilizers drain away too quickly.

Climate

Every crop needs specific weather conditions:

  • Sunshine: For photosynthesis (how plants make food), warmth, and ripening
  • Temperature: The right warmth for seeds to germinate (sprout) and plants to grow
  • Rainfall: For germination, growth, swelling grains, softening soil for ploughing, and flooding rice fields

Problems with Natural Inputs:

If rain arrives too early: Low yields, flooding, seedlings washed away, ground too wet, pests encouraged

If rain arrives too late: Low yields, delayed planting, growth stops, expensive irrigation needed, water shortages

Other natural hazards:

  • Thunderstorms damage crops and cause soil erosion
  • Frosts kill plants
  • Droughts kill young plants
  • Floods wash crops away

Human Inputs for Subsistence Farming

Labour

Labour means human work - from planting seeds to harvesting crops.

Advantages: People can maintain machinery, spread fertilizers, plough, sow, thresh, and harvest

Disadvantages: People cannot work 24 hours a day and are less precise than machines

Traditional Seeds (Desi Seeds)

Desi seeds are traditional local varieties that have been used for generations.

Advantages:

  • Cheap to obtain
  • Need less chemical fertilizer
  • Easily available locally
  • Adapted to local climate

Disadvantages:

  • Lower yields than modern varieties
  • More vulnerable to pests and diseases

Natural Manure

Manure is animal dung used as fertilizer. It's free on subsistence farms because farmers keep animals.

Advantages:

  • Free (from own animals)
  • Improves soil structure
  • Adds nutrients slowly over time

Disadvantages:

  • Less powerful than chemical fertilizers
  • Can spread weed seeds
  • Takes time to break down

Traditional Tools

Subsistence farmers use:

  • Wooden ploughs pulled by bullocks (a pair of bulls)
  • Sickles for cutting crops
  • Manual threshing (separating grain from chaff by hand)

Rice Production on Small-Scale Subsistence Farms

Rice farming is very labour-intensive (needs lots of human work).

The Rice Growing Process:

  1. March - Ploughing: A tractor or bullocks pull a plough to break up the soil thoroughly

  2. Nursery: Seeds are sown in a small nursery bed in the corner of the field while the main field is being prepared

  3. May - Flooding: The field is flooded with water to a depth of about 25 cm (10 inches)

  4. Transplanting: When seedlings are about 30 cm tall, they are carefully moved from the nursery to the flooded field. This is skilled work - if not done properly, seedlings will float away

  5. Growing period: The field must be protected from birds. Fertilizers and insecticides are scattered across the water

  6. September - Harvesting: Water is drained from the field. The crop is cut with a sickle

  7. Threshing: Rice is tied in bundles and beaten manually to separate the grains from the stalks

Natural requirements for rice:

  • Temperature: 30°C (warm, no cold season)
  • Rainfall: At least 1,270 mm per year (ideal is over 2,000 mm)
  • Soil: Loamy or clayey soil that holds water
  • Land: Flat land so water doesn't drain away

Human inputs:

  • Cheap family labour (lots of work needed)
  • Traditional methods of ploughing and transplanting
  • Simple irrigation using channels
  • Family knowledge passed down through generations

Wheat Production in Barani Areas

Barani farming means farming that depends entirely on rainfall - no irrigation is used. This happens in areas like the Potwar Plateau where seasonal rainfall is low.

The Barani Wheat Process:

  1. October-December: Land is ploughed just as rains arrive to make soil soft

  2. Sowing: Seeds are scattered by hand or with simple tools

  3. Growing: If chemical fertilizers are not available, cow dung is used instead

  4. Hoeing: During the growing period, weeds are removed by hand using a hoe

  5. Harvesting: After three months (around March-April), wheat is cut with a sickle

  6. Threshing: Grain is separated from chaff by beating or using animals to trample it

Natural requirements for wheat:

  • Growing temperature: 10-20°C (cool)
  • Ripening temperature: 20-25°C (warmer)
  • Rainfall: 325-625 mm total (light rain in October-November; little rain before harvest)
  • Soil: Well-drained alluvial, loam, or clay soil
  • Harvest season: Dry and sunny

Challenges in barani areas:

  • Unreliable rainfall
  • Soil erosion (rain washes away topsoil)
  • Low yields because no irrigation
  • Cannot grow crops in dry months

Dates and Vegetables Using Karez Irrigation

In desert areas of Balochistan, farmers grow dates and vegetables using a karez system.

What is a karez? A karez is an underground channel that brings water from mountains to desert oases (green areas in deserts). The water flows underground so it doesn't evaporate (dry up) in the hot desert sun.

How it works:

  1. Water comes from underground sources in the mountains
  2. It travels through underground tunnels (sometimes for many kilometers)
  3. The tunnel has vertical shafts (holes) every 20-30 meters for maintenance
  4. Water emerges at the oasis where farmers use it for crops

Crops grown using karez:

  • Dates: Need long hot summers, high temperatures day and night, dry sunny harvest time. Date palms have deep roots that can reach underground water
  • Vegetables: Onions, tomatoes, potatoes grown for local markets

Natural requirements:

  • Underground water source
  • Gentle slope for water to flow
  • Hot, dry climate (dates can tolerate this)

Human inputs:

  • Labour to build and maintain the karez tunnels
  • Knowledge of where water sources are
  • Skills in managing limited water carefully

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