Tunnel farming for vegetables is becoming popular across Pakistan as it boosts per-acre yield, cuts the cost of production and helps in off-season production.
Back in 2005, the ‘fruit and vegetable development project’ of the Punjab government was launched as the first major initiative on tunnel farming.
Now thousands of farmers in all provinces are engaged in it.
Many of them say it has helped them grow more and better veggies at lower than usual costs, thus boosting their income.
The average per-year production of tomato, cucumber, cabbage, cauliflower, turnip, bitter and bottle gourds, okra and capsicum has increased during FY2010-14, as compared to FY2005-09, according to the officials of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research.
Consolidated data for FY2016 on veggies’ cumulative output is yet to be released.
But officials of agriculture departments of Sindh and Punjab confirm a rising trend during the last fiscal year.
Most tunnel farms are spread over 10 to 20 acres of land.
But, some tunnel farms cover a larger area in Punjab.
In Sindh, too, urban owners of unused land have started leasing it out to individual farmers or farmer-groups interested in tunnel farming.
In Punjab, tunnel farming of vegetables has taken root in Arifwala, Mailsi and Vehari and is fast becoming popular in Faisalabad, Jhang, Multan, Rahim Yar Khan and Sialkot, according to officials of Punjab Agriculture Department.
After some incentives offered in the two annual agricultural budgets including the current fiscal year, “tunnel farms have started coming up in other areas as well like in Kasur, Lahore, Nankana Sahib and Sheikhupura,” an official said.
At present, tunnel farming is being carried out on 250,000-300,000 acres of land in the province, he added.
In Sindh and KP, too, similar incentives for tunnel farming are being provided.
But the provincial agriculture departments have made no arrangement to collect data on the actual production of vegetables in tunnel farms.
Guesstimates by officials put vegetable output in tunnel farms at 2-3% of the total production of 3.1mn tonnes (excluding potatoes). Some private sector companies have also started playing a key role in promoting tunnel farming.
One of them, Four Brothers Farms Ltd, claims that it offers, on turn-key basis, a complete package of erection, maintenance and running of tunnel farms commercially.
Farmers in Punjab, Sindh and KP are taking advantage of services provided by such companies.
Though the number of active and large companies in the field of tunnel farming promotion can be counted on one’s fingers, the total number of firms that claim to have expertise in this area is close to 200.
The National Agricultural Research Centre and Ayub Agriculture Research Centre continue to provide technical know-how on tunnel farming to growers across the country.
Farmers say that off-season and higher production of vegetables, economised use of water and more effective pest and weed management are three main features of tunnel farming.
Thousands of farmers in all provinces are engaged in tunnel farming.
