Chemicals

2. Justification for Support - Linkages with GEF Themes and Operational Programmes The project has direct relevance with GEF/SGP Operational Program on Sustainable Land Management (OP #15). The principle reasons for development of this project are extensive land degradation due to un-sustainable farming practices, indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides & fertilizers in District Badin, which has adversely damaged the land ecosystem and biodiversity of the area. There are various pests such as stem borers, plan hoppers, leaf rollers, defoliators, rodents and weeds that damage the paddy farms in the project area. Currently, they are being controlled mainly through indiscriminate use of chemicals containing Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). These non-degradable pesticides are getting dissolved into the land, air as well as ground water; thereby increasing the risk of entering into food chain. The extensive use of chemical pesticides with increasing ratio of POPs has resulted into manifold negative effects not only on the paddy ecosystem but also human life is also on the risk. The use of POPs has been globally restricted in all its forms and manifestation through international agreement. Pakistan is also one of the signatories. Therefore, successful implementation of this project will directly support to the global cause of environmental protection and the concerns of transboundary climate change. Due to unsustainable land management and inappropriate farming practices, cost of production has increased having economic burden on the local farming communities. Community based Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is the application of an interconnected set of methods for managing pests including pest prevention techniques, pest monitoring methods, biological control, pest attractants and repellents, bio-pesticides, use of insect resistant varieties and the chemical pesticides at the last resort. Community IPM is people-related. IPM focuses on long-term prevention or suppression of pest problems with minimum impact on human health and the environment. It involves regular monitoring and technical management of all those processes of crop production starting from preparation of land up to post-harvest management practices. These activities are directly linked to help mitigate land degradation processes in the project area for greater productivity enhancement keeping in view the thematic areas of GEF/SGP OP #15. What are the principal reasons why the project activity is needed Due to lack of knowledge and skills, the local communities don t take care of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) approach for crop protection in paddy farms. Community is unable to properly monitor and manage their paddy farms by applying available alternative environment friendly methods. Most of the manpower in the target areas is engaged in paddy farming and their main source of income come from this sector They are unaware of proper management of their paddy farms The area has great potential for crops of economic importance such as rice, sunflower, sugarcane, cotton, wheat, chilies, banana, paan, vegetables; etc. Rice, being one the important economic crops of District Badin; there are about 30 Rice husking Mills. There is also great potential for processing industry. Women folk are actively involved with their women in the rice farming. The project aims to further improve women participation and raise awareness about indiscriminate use of pesticides in paddy farming system. 1. Clearly identify the problem the project aims to solve 1. Land degradation due to un-sustainable rice pest management practices 2. Prevalent pest problems such as stem borers, plant hoppers, defoliators, weeds, etc. 3. Indiscriminate use of hazardous insecticides including Padan, Mono, Cyper, Limda, Rifit, Amicon, Amida, Thiodan, Karate, Confidor, Actara and Regent which are equally hazardous to human and land ecosystem of the project area 4. Increasing cost of production for rice growers 5. Increasing resistance in pests due to indiscriminate use of insecticides and emergence of secondary pest problems 6. Lack of scientific farm management skills and knowledge among the paddy growers. 3. Context/Baseline (not more than 300 words) The total geographical area of District Badin is 6,726 sq. km (672,000 ha) and population 11,36,000 as per 1998 census. Total cultivated area is 454000 ha, irrigated 204900 ha (1995-96) and forest area is 5000 ha. It comprises 5 Talukas viz Badin, Matli, Golarchi (Shaheed Fazil Rahu), Talhar and Tando Bago. The project s target area Union Council Golarchi (Shaheed Fazil Rahu) is situated in Tehsil Golarchi, District of Badin. There are 250 villages in this UC with total population of about 40,000 as reported by FAHRDA and local NGO. It is located at a distance of about 35 km from District Headquarters. The major source of income of the inhabitants is agriculture mainly rice farming. Some people are engaged in different small scale businesses in Hyderabad and Karachi city. The inhabitants of this area have a simple lifestyle and they comprise of Sindhi (40%), Punjabi (40%), Bengali (15%) and non-Muslim (5%). The total cropping area of Union Council Golarchi is 14170 ha (35,000 acres) and 10121 ha (25,000 acres, 71%) are under rice cultivation. The main crops are rice, sunflower, sugarcane, cotton, banana, paan, vegetables etc. The area is irrigated from the Sukkur and Kotri Barrages. District Badin has remained the victim of natu

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