In Gwadar agricultural crops are categorised in two types, Rabi and Kharif, according to their cultivation seasons. Rabi crops are sown in winter and harvested in late winter or during early summer while Kharif crops are sown in summer and harvested in late summer or early winter. The major Rabi crops of the district include wheat, barley, muttar pulse, and various vegetables, but their current volume of production is comparatively negligible. Kharif crops in Gwadar district include mainly fruits and water melons, various vegetables and some jowar and mash . Fodder is cultivated throughout the year. Fruits are produced in Kharif season. Date is the major agricultural produce of the district which is exported to other parts of the country as well.

Agricultural labour consists predominantly of males. However women help their family by getting involved in allied activities like home-base date processing. Mostly the farming activities are performed by the landowner himself.

In Gwadar district, agricultural land can be classified into irrigated and un-irrigated. Irrigated land has permanent sources of water like open surface wells or springs. There is not a single karez or kaurjo in the district. Un-irrigated land in Kulanch and Dasht valleys is rain-fed, locally called khushkaba, or flood irrigated ( sailaba ). Irrigated land is predominantly used for production of fruits however some crops are also cultivated in orchards. Crops like wheat, barley, and jowar are cultivated in un-irrigated land.

The Agriculture Department has sub-divided the net potential area available for cultivation into current fallow, net sown, area sown more than once and culturable waste. In Gwadar, about 97 percent of the area is either not yet reported or not available for cultivation. The arable land constitutes just one percent of the total area. The major reasons are scarcity of irrigation water and unavailability of agricultural labour.

Gwadar is not a settled area. Land settlement was planned a few years ago but has not been completed. In this situation cadastrial maps and records of land settlement or land ownership are not available. This, sometimes, results in conflicts over land ownership. In Gwadar, individual ownership is predominant in un-irrigated areas. The reason is an economic one. Un-irrigated areas are rain-fed, therefore financial inputs for irrigation are minimal and it is possible for individuals to have land and to cultivate it.

According to the 1990 Census of Agriculture, about one third (31.3%) of the land-holdings sized below 5 hectares, while about the same number of farms were larger than 20 hectares. This is also a result of predominant un-irrigated land.

Tenancy is not very much common as agriculture is not a very important economic activity in the district. Most of the farmers themselves work on their fields. Some large land and orchard owners employ tenants. Tenancy contracts are not formal and oral understanding is considered enough. Mouroosi (inherited) tenancy is not practised in the district and it is usually the tenant, rather than the land owner, who discontinues the contract. Sometimes tenants make deals at the same time with more than one land owner, mainly due to scarcity of agricultural labour. In case of irrigated land, a tenant gets one third of the total yield while in un-irrigated land a tenant gets one fourth share in the yield. In both cases all the inputs are provided by the land owner. Another form of tenancy is also practised which is locally called lathbandi . In this type of tenancy the tenant provides all the inputs and he retains three fourth of the total yield. If he provides half of the inputs then he gets half of the total yield.

Agricultural statistics are collected primarily by a Field Assistant posted in every union council. An Agriculture Officer at district level is responsible to compile district data and send it to the Statistics Wing of the Agriculture Department through the Assistant Director, Agriculture Extension. The Directorate General of Agriculture Department compiles and publishes this data in the form of Agriculture Statistics of Balochistan, every year.

Dates, mangoes, fodder, water melons, citrus, tomatoes and wheat are the major agricultural produce of the area. Wheat is cultivated mostly in un-irrigated areas, rain-fed for the most part, while dates, other fruits, water melons, and vegetables are cultivated in irrigated lands. Although average per hectare yield of wheat in Gwadar (1,143 kg/Ha.) is not at par with the average yield of wheat for the province of Balochistan (2,320 kg/Ha.), it fulfils the local needs to some extent. Barley is another crop cultivated mostly in khushkaba lands. Different vegetables and fodder are cultivated throughout the year.

Date, the major produce among fruits, is most frequently planted on irrigated land. Dates require continuos irrigation and more care. The process of impregnation is unique in case of dates. Pollens from male date tree are sprinkled on female date tree manually.

The time series data on total production show an inconsistent trend. However average yield has been almost consistent (see Annex 6 for detailed statistics). The main reason behind this fluctuating trend seems to be the quality of the statistics, as there is hardly any correlation with the rainfall data.

Males are the visible agricultural workers in Gwadar. Females take part in agriculture- allied activities inside the household boundaries. For example dates are dried by women at household level. Land owners themselves till the land and tenants are not easily available to be contracted. Although mechanisation, like use of tractors, is increasing, still most of the farming is performed through indigenous methods, such as the use of bullocks are used for ploughing in orchards in case of inter-cropping.

According to the Agricultural Statistics 1994-95, the major source of irrigation in Gwadar is streams and springs etc. Other significant sources are tubewells, operated by diesel, and open surface wells from where water is taken out for irrigation with the help of diesel pumps. The remaining is khushkaba or sailaba land dependent upon rainfall. The total number of tubewells has decreased in khushkaba lands over the past years, may be due to increase in the diesel price.

In flood irrigation, rain-water is harvested into the fields by embankment of fields. This provides enough water for cultivation of crops like wheat and barley. All the tubewells are diesel powered. These are used for irrigation in case diesel, illegally imported from Iran, is cheap. Otherwise tubewells are not operated and farmers wait for rainfall. Here it is necessary to clarify a misunderstanding, that the open surface wells with diesel pumps are often also called tubewells. In Pasni and Shadikaur area, there are 22 such open surface wells being used for irrigation.

The major agricultural machinery being used in the district includes tractors and tubewells. The Agricultural Engineering Department provides bulldozers at the rate of rupees 300 per hour for levelling of agricultural lands and construction of embankments.

There is no record of use of chemical fertilisers in the district. The farmers often use manure as fertiliser. Pesticides are used for horticulture, vegetables, melons, and fodder through ground sprays. Sometimes wheat seed is also treated with pesticides. In 1994-95, only 71 kilograms of pesticides were recorded to be used in the whole district. Supplies are made through small dealers in the private sector.

Unavailability of adequate road connections has incapacitated the farmers to bring their yield to the local market. Most of the produce is locally consumed. Only dates are exported to other parts of the country like Karachi, Quetta, and Sukkur. Agricultural as well as horticultural produce is sold on farm where a middle man buys the goods and further sells it out in the markets.

There are no fixed prices of agricultural products. Official rates are totally invalid in Gwadar. Price of dates depends upon crop situation in other date producing areas of the country. If there is a good crop of dates in other areas, the price of dates will be low in Gwadar district and vice versa. Grain crops hardly meet out the local needs therefore organisations like PASCO are not active in the district.

As most of the agricultural produce is used domestically at local level, agriculture is not the significant source of cash income. The average yield of cash crops like wheat is low hence farmers are unable to raise their economic status through agriculture. However, agricultural produce fulfils their nutritional needs to some extent. The date producers are relatively at advantageous position as date is a profitable crop but this also depends upon the price of dates in other districts. Dates, mangoes, citrus and even the guava and chikoo are economically more important than wheat. Based on the agricultural statistics of 1994-1995 a rough estimate indicates that the agricultural income reaches up to Rs. 2,300 per capita, considering all agricultural produce is valued at Quetta market prices. No research has been undertaken yet to investigate real income per capita in the district.

The Department of Agriculture Extension is providing assistance to farmers through dissemination of technical know-how and information regarding agriculture/horticulture. There are 16 demonstration plots for different crops and 2 new demonstration plots are under consideration. In 1995-96, the department has carried out plant protection work on 1556 hectares of land. There seems very little co-ordination between research activities by the federal government and the knowledge dissemination process by the provincial government through Department of Agriculture Extension. Another problem is lack of viable communication between farmers and the department. It was told that the department often makes advice to the farmers but they rarely care about advice. One example is of date farming. In order to maximise the use of irrigated land, farmers cultivate date trees very closely to each other, whilst minimum recommended distance between two date trees is 6 metres. Moreover the farmers grow wheat or vegetables under these trees. Less distance between trees results in less fluorosynthesis and mix of crops result in increased pests and diseases.

The department has developed a Coconut Progeny Orchard cum Nursery on 10 hectares of land in Pasni since 1989. Besides coconut and chikoo other important tropical plants like oil palm, nutmeg, and clove etc. are also planted for trial.

The Balochistan government and private sector are the main partners providing support structure to agricultural sectors. Federal government is also involved to some extent.

Traditional crops are sown and innovative farming is non-existent in Gwadar district. Although there is a potential for cultivation of oil seed plants, the Department of Agriculture Extension is unable to motivate the farmers for this crop. Although agriculture is not an economic sector with a large potential for Gwadar district, much of the barren land can be utilised and people can at least supplement their living.