Abstract
Background: Soil salinity; concentration and or accumulation of salts may pose severe risk on soil
productivity and in turn concerned population and farmers. Salt-influenced lands in Pakistan were spread
over 6.63 million hectare which is diminishing the agrarian profitability. This study will explore the impact
of salinity on livelihood of farmers in district Hafizabad.
Methods: Data of 192 small, medium and large farmers was collected from four randomly selected villages of
salinity affected area of Hafizabad district of Punjab province of Pakistan using multistage probability sampling
technique. SPSS version 21.0 was utilized to analyze the data for generating logical results.
Results: Farmers belonging to saline area communities were characterized on the basis of their education,
experience, cultivated area, and method of irrigation and technological adoption for analyzing their livelihood
typologies. Average yield of wheat was found to be 26mnds/acre, while marketable surplus was high for large
farmers due to ownership of more area. Livelihood typologies were derived mainly from on-farm and off-farm
income activities of the farmers. Agriculture farm earning in the saline area was estimated as Rs. 10 to 12
thousand per acre. Contribution of off-farm income in household cash flows was estimated in 79% of small,
medium and large farmer as less than 15000 indicating the dependency status of the households.
Conclusion: Major livelihood source in Salt-affected soils was still agricultural cash inflows beside their
contribution to the food basket of consumers. Farmers were in favour of provision of farming inputs on subsidized
rates i.e. lime and gypsum as a poverty alleviation strategy in the area for positive promotion of sharing culture
with public sector.
Arshad Mahmood Malik, Hafiz Muhammad Tayyab, Muhammad Arshad Ullah, Muhammad Talha Bilal. (2020-2021) Salinity, livelihood and agricultural productivity: A case of Hafizabad District, Advancements in Life Sciences, Volume-8, Issue-2.
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