Nov

Use of Zai pits in Balochistan and its Role in Combating effects of Climate Change.

Our project is on the use of Zai pits (originated from Sahel region) in Balochistan and combating the effects of climate change. It’s an agriculture technique that addresses soil degradation, water scarcity and crop yield in arid regions. It is done by digging small pits in land and then adding organic fertilizers (Cattle manure). due its unique shape it captures rainwater. Our Projects covers UN’s SDGs no 2(Zero Hunger),13(climate action),15(life on land). Objectives of our project are to restore the degraded soil and land, ensuring food security by increasing crop yield and empowering local communities with sustainable agriculture practices. The challenges we faced during the implementation of Zai pits where high labor for digging pits, introducing locals to Zai pits(farmers where hesitant) and low rainfall. The outcomes we achieved that we were able to grow crops and plants in completely barren land and raised awareness among locals.

Our project had transformative impact on agriculture in regions of Balochistan’s with challenging environmental conditions. Our project not only addressed concerns like water scarcity and poor soil conditions, but also has broader socioeconomic and environmental implications. The 1st impact our team observed after the implementation of Zai pits was improvement in agriculture in arid regions. Although we dig 34 pits, but our team and farmers noticed substantial improvement in crop yields compared to crops planted outside the pits. Our project also improved water retention in the pits, capturing rainwater that would otherwise be lost to runoff or evaporation. Since Panjgur is arid region where water is very scarce this improvement ensured that the crops planted in the pits have access to moisture. Another thing we noticed was enhanced soil fertility. In Panjgur, where soil is less fertile due to years of natural erosion, The introduction of Zai pits with cattle manure created a more favorable conditions for crops and plants. In our eyes the most significant impact our project created was that we gave confidence to local farmers that we can grow crops and plant by using Zai pits in arid regions which was once considered impossible with traditional farming techniques. While our project was on a small scale, but it served as proof of concept for farmers and we are also hopeful that with more awareness we would be able to encourage more farmers in Panjgur to adopt the Zai pit system, potentially expanding the practice across larger areas of Balochistan in future.

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