Exploring the Socio-Economic Condition of Gram’s Farmers and Bottlenecks to Rural Development in Barani Thall (Rainfed) Areas of District Bhakkar, Pakistan.

Abstract

Gram (Chickpea) is a major pulse crop of Pakistan mostly grown in the Thall desert Districts of the Punjab Province. All social, cultural, and economic activities of the farming population are mostly dependent on the income from this crop. The present descriptive study deals with the socio-economic condition of Gram’s Farmers and reveals the major reasons behind the low yield of crops. The data was collected from a sample of 100 Gram cultivating farmers taken from 4 Tehsils of District Bhakkar using a convenient sampling technique. The researcher used an Interview schedule for data collection. Findings showed that 83 percent of the total sampled population use 100 % proportion of their land only for gram cultivation and 91 % of farmers were cultivating the gram crop under the Rain-fed irrigation method. The 56 % of respondents were suffering from the low yield of crops for about last 6-7 years and the majority 88 % said that the major reason behind low yield is less and uncertain rains in the area due to climate change.  The net income from 2020-21 crops was less than the farmer’s expenses. The present study confirmed the relationship between climate uncertainty & poor socio-economic condition with a low yield of crops resulting in poor rural development.