RESOURCES OF PAKISTAN

NAME: SAADULLAH CHANNA

CLASS: BSAF-1A

ID: 1947112

COURSE: PAKISTAN STUDIES

 SOILS ANIMAL
HUSBANDRY

WATER RESOURCES OF PAKISTAN AGRICULTURE

MINING ENERGY FORESTRY

 INDUS BASIN SOILS
• Bangar Soils, covering a vast area in the Indus Plain, are
deep, calcareous, of medium to fine texture, low in
organic matter, but very productive when irrigated and
fertilized.
• Khaddar soils are formed from recent and present-day
deposits along the rivers. Part of these soils are flooded
each year, adding depositional layers of silt loam and silty
clay loam. The organic content of these soils is low, but
they are usually free of salts.
• Indus Delta Soils are formed of sub-recent alluvium and
estuarine deposits. They cover the entire area of the
Indus Delta from south of Hyderabad to the coast. With
irrigation, these soils are used for rice cultivation.
• Saline loamy soils cover most of the delta. Some with salt
crust at the surface, have been reclaimed by simple
leaching and better drainage. Extremely saline patches
can be used only for poor grazing.
• Coastal estuarine deposits form the lower part of the
Delta, which is a maze of tidal flats, basins, and sea-water
creeks. The soils are extremely saline and barren, except
for a weedy vegetation.
 MOUNTAIN SOILS
• Mountain soils occur in the highland areas of the north
and west, and are residual as well as transported. Along
the steep crests and slopes, and in the broken hill country,
shallow residual soils have developed. Under arid and
semi-arid conditions, these soils are usually strongly
calcareous, with low organic content.
• In the mountain valleys, soils are formed from the alluvial
infills of the streams. These soils are calcareous silt loams
and sandy loams of low organic content. They are
cultivated in patches only.
• In the sub-montane area of the Potwar Plateau, shallow
residual soils and silty eroded loess have been formed. In
places these soils are massive, susceptible to erosion, and
strongly gullied, producing a dissected landscape. Lime
content is high, and organic content low, but, with plenty
of water, these soils are relatively productive.
• In the lowest parts of the inter-montane valleys and
interior basins of the arid and semi-arid regions, strongly
saline soils develop. Excess of evaporation over
precipitation leaves a thick crust of salts at the surface of
the intermittent lakes. For the most part, these soils are
barren. The margins carry low shrubs and salt bush, used
for poor grazing.
 SANDY DESERT SOILS
• The soils extend over some parts of western
Baluchistan, and the Cholistan and Thar
Deserts.
• Thal desert soils occur in large sections of
the Sind Sagar Doab.
• Desert soils include rolling to hilly sandy
soils, and clayey flood plain soils. Where the
soils are formed of deep sand, as in much of
Baluchistan, they are moderately calcareous,
and largely aeolian.
• In places, the windblown material is mixed
with old alluvium. The arid and semi-arid
desert sand areas have few possibilities for
improvement, beyond very poor grazing.
 ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
• Being a country that has a largely rural and agriculture-based
industry, animal husbandry plays an important role in the
economy of Pakistan and is a major source of livelihood for many
farmers.
• Sheep differ widely throughout the grazing lands of central and
northern Pakistan. Their wool is exported in large quantities.
• Among local cow breeds, the most notable are the Red Sindhi
cattle and the Sahiwal Breed, used widely for milk and dairy
production purposes.
• Dung excreted by cattle is a vital resource for supplying cooking
fuel and soil fertilizers.
• The production of dairy product items such as milk, ice cream,
cheeses and butter is carried out by dairy plants.
• Animals are also widely used for transport in Pakistan, especially
in the rural areas; the most commonly used animals are camels,
donkeys and bullocks.
 AGRICULTURE
• Pakistan’s principal natural resources are
arable land and water. Agriculture accounts for
about 21% of Pakistan’s GDP and employs
about 43% of the labour force.
• Mango orchards are mostly found in Sindh and
Punjab provinces that make Pakistan the
world’s 4th largest producer of mangoes.
• The most important crops are wheat,
sugarcane, cotton, and rice, which together
account for more than 75% of the value of total
crop output.
• Pakistan exports rice, cotton, fish, fruits
(especially oranges and mangoes), and
vegetables and imports vegetable oil, wheat,
pulses and consumer foods.
• The country is Asia’s largest camel market,
second-largest apricot and ghee market and
third-largest cotton, onion and milk market.
 FISHERY
• Fishery plays a significant part in the
national economy of Pakistan. It is also
major source of export earning.
• Most of the population of the coastal
areas of Sindh and Balochistan
depends on fisheries for livelihood.
• The effect of the Indus River Delta on
the marine resources of the coastline
of Sindh is substantial, as this river
system has been transporting
enormous quantities of nutrients and
sediment to the continental shelf for
centuries.
 HYDROELECTRICITY
• It is the cheapest source of energy and is also
environment friendly.
• On average, Wapda provides about 31 billion
units of hydel electricity to the national grid
annually.
• Wapda owns 19 hydel power stations,
including Tarbela hydel power station, Ghazi-
Barotha, Mangla, Warsak and others, with
cumulative generation capacity of 6,902MW.
• Three hydroelectric power projects have been
completed this year which included the Tarbela
4th extension, Neelum-Jhelum and Golen Gol
with cumulative installed capacity of 2,487MW.
 FORESTRY
• Less than 4% of land in Pakistan is
covered with forests.
• The forests of Pakistan are a main
source of lumber, paper, fuelwood,
latex, medicine as well as human
and animal food.
• Other minor products include resin
(a fluid in tissue of Chir pine plant
that becomes solid on exposure to
the air) and ‘mazri’ (used for
making baskets).
• The forests also provide for
ecotourism and wildlife
conservation purposes.
 SOLAR ENERGY
• Pakistan has some of the highest values of
insolation in the world, with eight to nine
hours of sunshine per day, ideal climatic
conditions for solar power generation.
• The country has solar plants in Azad Kashmir,
Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan.
• Initiatives are under development by the
International Renewable Energy Agency, the
Japan International Cooperation Agency,
Chinese companies, and Pakistani private
sector energy companies.
• The country aims to build the world’s largest
solar power park, the Quaid-e-Azam Solar
Power Park (QASP) in the Cholistan Desert,
Punjab, with a 1 GW capacity. A plant of this
size would be enough to power around
320,000 homes.
 WIND ENERGY
• Wind power is a form of renewable
energy in Pakistan which makes up
more than 6% of the total
electricity production in the
country. As of 2018, wind power
capacity in Pakistan was 1,237 MW.
• The Gharo-Jhimpir wind corridor in
Sindh was identified as the most
lucrative site for wind power
plants. The wind power potential
covered an area of 9700 sq.km
with a gross wind power potential
of 43000 MW.
 TIDAL ENERGY
• Tidal power has not yet been operational in
Pakistan, but in near future it may play a key
role.
• The coastline of Pakistan, which is about 1,045
km-long with dominant features, is the best
resource for harnessing tidal energy.
• In Sindh, two sites, creek system of Indus delta of
170 km and two to five metres tidal heights at
the Korangi Creek, are available to exploit the
tidal energy. Sonmiani Beach and Kalamat are
also good prospects of tidal energy in
Balochistan.
• Government has issued licence to private
companies to take measures to build tidal power
stations in February 2013. Since then, the
engineering work is under process, and initially a
10 MW plant is proposed at Sonmiani Bay.
 MINERAL OIL
• The Toot area is one of the oldest oil
producing regions in Pakistan. It is
located in the Pothohar Plateau,
Punjab Province, which is located
approximately 135 km southwest of
the capital city of Islamabad.
• The oil reserves are situated in
Dhullian, Kot Mayyal, Attock,
Chakwal, Dhodhak, Badin,
Hyderabad, Dadu and Potohar
Plateau.
 NATURAL GAS
• The Sui gas field is the biggest natural
gas field in Pakistan, located near Sui in
Balochistan.
• Sui gas field accounts for 6% of
Pakistan’s gas production. Remaining
reserves are estimated to be at about
800 billion cubic feet and the daily
production is around 500 million cubic
feet of natural.
• The operator of the field is Pakistan
Petroleum Limited.
 COAL
• Sub-bituminous coal is a coal whose properties range from
those of lignite to those of bituminous coal and is used
primarily as fuel for steam-electric power generation.
• It is set to fuel power stations and cement works in
Pakistan.
• Lignite is a low-grade, sulphurous coal that is generally
used in modified industrial furnaces to generate heat for
boilers, coke oven heaters, brick kilns, etc.
• It can also be a source of fertilizer and soil conditioner.
• Sindh’s Thar desert and lignite mines in Kingri Balochistan
will also be expanded soon for industrial usage.
• The Lignite/ Brown Coal of Kingri Coal fields in percentage
from 44 – 79 Percent use in formation of Humic Acid which
is in high quantity.
 URANIUM
• Pakistan has recently used some in its own
nuclear power and weapons programs.
• The Wahi Pandi, Karunuk (Sehwan), and
Rehman Dhora (Aamri) mines in the,
Kirthar Range, Sindh and the Shanawah
Deposit, Karak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are
being opened up to meet Pakistan’s rising
need for uranium, which these sources are
issuing at an ore grade: 0.04% Uranium
mineral purity rate.
• Baghalchur is a small town in Dera Ghazi
Khan District, Punjab, Pakistan. Baghalchur
is the site of abandoned Uranium mines
now being used as a nuclear dump.
 MINERAL SALTS
• The Khewra Salt Mines are among
the world’s oldest and biggest salt
mines. Salt is mined at Khewra in an
underground area of about 110
square kilometres (42 sq mi).
• Khewra salt mine has an estimated
total of 220 million tonnes of rock
salt deposits. The current
production from the mine is
325,000 tons of salt per annum.
 COPPER AND GOLD
• In Reko Diq, Balochistan, deposits of
copper and gold are present.
• Antofagasta, the company which
possesses the Reqo Diq field, is
targeting an initial production of
170,000 metric tons of copper and
300,000 ounces of gold a year. The
project may produce more than
350,000 tons a year of copper and
900,000 ounces of gold.
• There are also copper deposits in Daht-
e-Kuhn, Nokundi, Located in Chaghi
district.
 IRON ORE
• Iron ore is found in various
regions of Pakistan including
Nokundi, Chinot and the largest
one in Kalabagh (less than 42%
quality), Haripur and other
Northern Areas.
• The extracted iron had been
tested in Swiss and Canadian
laboratories, which were
successful in finding 60-65
percent of it to be high grade.
 GEMSTONES
• A number of precious stones are mined and
polished for local as well as export
purposes.
• The centre point of this operation is Khyber-
Pakhtoonkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan.
• Pakistan has large reserves of mineral ores
and gemstones. Pakistani gemstones include
a variety of minerals such as peridot,
aquamarine, topaz, ruby and emerald,
making the country significant in the
mineral world.
• The export earned from these gems is more
than 200 million dollars.
 CHROMITE
• Chromite is a white-coloured
metal used in the making of
steel, dyes, photography items
and airplanes.
• Pakistan has the world’s largest
reserves of chromite and this
natural resource is found in
Muslim Bagh, Chaghi, Kharan,
Malakand and North Waziristan.
 LIMESTONE
• This is used for making cement and
is also used in paper, soap and
glass industries.
• Limestone deposits are found in
Jhelum, Dera Ghazi Khan, Moghul
Kot, Hyderabad, Manghopir, Kot
Diji and Ranipur.
 MARBLE
• Marble is found in abundance in our
country and is present in vast variety
and colours.
• Its reserves are found in Chaghi,
Mardan, Swat and Khyber Agency.
• The marble found in Pakistan is of
highest quality because of its beauty,
softness and colour.
• Black and white marble is found in the
Kala Chitta Hills in Attock.
 GYPSUM
• Gypsum is a white coloured shining
stone used in the production of
chemical fertilisers, cement, bleaching
powder and plaster of Paris.
• Gypsum reserves are situated at
Mianwali, Dera Ghazi Khan, Kohat,
Rohri, Quetta and Sibi.